


Project: Rehabilitation

by Yesiamthesquip



Series: human squip au [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Completed, Enjoy!, F/F, F/M, M/M, Slow Burn, full of fluff and angst, good kids, good stuff, helpful squip, human squip au, slow brun, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2018-11-16 09:07:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 27,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11249991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yesiamthesquip/pseuds/Yesiamthesquip
Summary: Jeremy thought the squip was gone forever when the squip finally disappeared from his mind. that is until he found the squip in his bathroom, claiming he want to make things right





	1. chapter one: oh god, you're here

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! so this is my first ever fan fic and i hope you like it! I will try to make the least amount of grammar mistakes possible! if you would like to contact me to tell me anything you can see my tumblr here: https://yesiamthesquip.tumblr.com/ feel free to talk to me or ask me anything, i'm always open to talk whenever! please enjoy the first chapter!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeremy thought the squip was gone for good, that was until he found him in his bathroom wanting to fix his mistakes

Jeremy heard him every now and then. 

 

Even after the “incident” at the play last year, he could still hear the squips faint irritating voice in the back of his head. Always rambling on and on incessantly, Jeremy always wished it would stop. So when Jeremy woke up and heard nothing, he was both in shock and overjoyed. After all this time, the squips voice had finally died out. Jeremy was free from having to hear from him ever again. 

 

At least that’s what he thought.

 

It was a normal night as Jeremy was preparing himself to get some sleep before having to spend another dreaded day in his senior year of highschool. He lay in his bed in silence thinking, more so than normal. He thought about jenna, who occasionally tried to strike a conversation with their group every now and then, but has recently started staying more to herself. He thought about brooke, who had been coming up to jeremy and talking about chloe more and more, which made jeremy think brooke was not just talking about chloe, but pining after her. He thought about christine, who has been hyping jeremy up for their big audition for this years musical: high school musical (how cliche). He thought about rich and jake, who have started growing farther apart, which was weird seeing how they have been in a close relationship for months now. Jeremy thought about michael. Michael, who has always been there for jeremy, even after everything that has happened. Michael, who has always been and always will be his closest friend and his player two. Michael, who even at the ungodly hour of 1:12 AM, was still blowing up jeremy's phone with texts. Jeremy elected to ignore the texts and continue his useless efforts at getting any sleep. As jeremy’s eyes began to fall slowly, he was suddenly awoken by a loud crash. 

 

Jeremy jumped, embarrassed by the oh-so-totally-manly shriek he had let out. The noise sounded like it had come from down the hall. His father was coming home from a business trip (after finally getting a job), but he wasn’t supposed to be back until 2:00. Jeremy contemplated investigating the noise, and finally decided to man up and see what it was. He grabbed a flashlight from a random box in his closet and headed towards the bathroom, where he assumed the noise had been coming from. Jeremy slowly opened the door and prepared for a murder to pop out, but was shocked to see what he saw. 

 

Jeremy wished it were a murder instead.

 

Lying inside his bathtub was a half conscious man with jet black hair, pointy teeth, and  a pair of eerily familiar blue eyes staring back at him.  He looked like he had just crashed through the roof right into the bathtub, but there was no hole in the ceiling. He seemed to have knocked over everything in the area during the fall and just sat there staring blankly. 

 

Jeremy was taken aback. There was absolutely no way that the squip was right here, in his bathroom, staring back at him. “H-how i-is-” Jeremy stuttered, but was cut off by that same old cold voice, “I think i may be able to explain” the squip said, attempting to sit up through the pile of knocked over shampoos and soaps. 

 

“I-i don’t think i want an explanation from you!” Jeremy said, taking a step back, “Just-how are you even here!” .  “oh, so you do want an explanation” the squip said with his all-too snarky tone, and jeremy just sat there in silence, looking at the man sitting in his bathtub staring daggers at him. Slowly, jeremy lowered himself down and sat on the floor, “i’m waiting” he said. 

 

“I’m not completely sure how exactly this has happened” the squip started, to which jeremy interrupted “i thought you said you could explain!”. “I-i can, just let me get to it” the squip shot back, and jeremy decided to stop interrupting. 

 

“I do not remember much before this happened. For a while I felt as if I were completely gone, I couldn’t even see anything through your eyes, I thought I had disappeared from your conscious permanently” the squip spoke, his voice seemed unusually quiet for the type of person, no, the type of  _ thing _ he was. “I remember my program was changing, my code was being redone. I was not completely sure if what was happening, but I knew for sure that something was changing. During the recording, I remember seeing one word in particular flashing over and over through the program many times:  _ project rehabilitation _ ”.  The words ran cold out of the squips mouth as the pair sat silently in the bathroom for what felt like an eternity. 

 

“I don’t understand” jeremy said, finally breaking the silence. “Listen jeremy”, the squip began, “i’m not sure how all this came to be, but I do believe I understand the purpose. I think I am supposed to be here to fix what I have done”. Another long silence followed as jeremy stared at the squip in disbelief. What was he thinking?! The squip has randomly appeared as a human in his bathroom and suddenly tells jeremy he is here to make amends.  _ The squip _ . The being that has destroyed everything is now suddenly saying he wants to make things right. “No way” jeremy said, standing up. 

 

He began to walk away and wait for his father so they could figure out what to do, when suddenly he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He turned and came face to face with the squip. The first word that popped into his head was pitiful. The squips once cold and intimidating blue eyes were now full of guilt and desperation. His face was extremely pale, and he was shaking.  _ He must not be used to standing on his own after so long _ jeremy thought.  Jeremy didn’t really know what he was thinking, but, in a crazy moment, he took pity on the squip. The squip looked like he was trying to plead with jeremy, for a moment jeremy believed the squip had actually gained feelings. Sighing, he took the squips arm and led him to his bedroom.

 

Once they were in the room, the squip sat down on the bed and looked up at jeremy, that same pitiful look on his face. “Listen jeremy, I know this seems insane, but you must believe me. I think the reason i was brought back here is to fix what I have done, but I can’t do this without your help. I need you to help me act…..” the squips voice trailed off as he looked down. Jeremy swore he saw a look of shame cross the squips face as he spoke. “I need you to help me act normal, it’s the only chance I have of blending in enough where I won’t get caught”, the squip said, avoiding meeting eyes with jeremy. Jeremy suddenly started to laugh. The squip looked up, shocked, “w-what?!” he said defensively. “You! After all this time of you trying to tell me how to act normal, you need me to teach  _ you  _ how!” jeremy said. The squip attempted to stand up in defence, but found he was still a little weak. “Listen to me jeremy! Your friends know you too well! As much as I hate to admit it, they are quite smart. They know what you were like when I was with you and I can assure you they could figure out this is me if I am not able to act like you!” the squip whined. Jeremy sat down next to the squip, staring out his window pensively. 

 

What was he supposed to do here! The thing that had caused him and his friends so much pain was now asking for his help to “make things right” like that was something he could even do. Jeremy wanted to say no, he wanted to turn to the squip and kick him to the curb, but every time he looked at the squip, something in him hurt. He could see the squips eyes, he saw how he seemed truly sad. Something deep down in jeremy told him that the squip was telling the truth. 

 

Jeremy sighed and looked at the clock. 1:48AM. “It’s way too late” jeremy said, standing up and walking over to his closet. He pulled out a blanket and pillow he kept tucked in his closet. He usually kept these for when michael was staying over, but michael will just have to share for a little bit. The squip sat tense and looked at jeremy wide eyed as he tossed him the blanket. “We are definitely not sharing a bed, so you will have to sleep on the floor” jeremy said with a snarky expression. The squip stared at him confused. “So does this mean that you will help me?” he asked.

 

Jeremy let out a small laugh that oddly enough sent shivers down the squips spine. “Just shut up for a while and try to sleep” jeremy said.

 

“You have to prepare for your first day at school as a  _ normal person _ ”{project rehabilitation :: start}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this chapter was more of an exposition chapter, but next chapter we will meet more of the characters!


	2. chapter two: first day of school! what could go wrong?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy attempts to help make the squips first day at school the least stressful it possible can. easier said then done, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys how did you like the first chapter! this chapter will get more into the characters and all that good stuff. remember if you ever want to talk to me or ask me questions you can visit my tumblr and i would be happy to talk to you! enjoy chapter two!

Jeremy awoke feeling groggy as usual. For a second he felt like nothing was wrong, until he looked up and saw a small light illuminating his dark room, and the man in front of it. 

 

Quickly all of last nights events flooded back to him as he sprung out of bed and turned to the squip, who was hunched over the computer. “What are you doing on my computer!” Jeremy shouted, rushing over to see what the squip had been doing. “I'm hacking your school's files” the squip said nonchalantly, “I have to enter myself into the school system so your teachers don’t freak out when I arrive to class. I’m entering myself in as a transfer student”. Jeremy hadn’t really thought about that, he was kinda glad the squip knew so they didn’t have to deal with problems when they got there. Still, that doesn’t make it any less illegal and freaky to Jeremy. “So...you know how to hack into school files?” Jeremy said awkwardly, trying to see all the work the squip was doing. “Of course I do Jeremy, just because I am no longer a computer doesn’t mean I don’t still know how to use one” he scoffed. Jeremy did believe the squip wanted to make amends, but it was going to take a lot of work.  _ A good place to start should be getting him to stop making snarky comments _ Jeremy thought.

 

After around half an hour the squip had finished up his file and he and Jeremy came up with a fake backstory for his friends and the school. His “name” was Stephen Morris and He was a transfer student from Dayton, Ohio. Jeremy checked the time: 6:45 AM. 

 

“Shit!” Jeremy said, scrambling to get his things in order, “We need to hurry or we will be late to school!” Jeremy quickly put on his clothes and put away all his things in his bag when he looked up at the squip, who was standing there watching him. It then dawned on Jeremy that the squip was in no way ready for school. He had no sort of school supplies and he was still in that annoying bathrobe and jeans which the squip always claimed to be “very fashionable”. Jeremy quickly rummaged through his drawers and found a plain white tshirt and jeans, which he tossed over to the squip. “You look like you could probably fit into these” Jeremy said as he went and finished putting his bag together, setting aside a notebook that he could at least share with the squip until he had the time to get the squip actual supplies.

 

The squip had changed but Jeremy could tell something seemed off about him as they were sneaking out, trying not to wake Jeremy's father who had seemed to have passed out on the couch as soon as he got home. Jeremy was proud that his father had stepped up and got a respectable job as a journalist, but he did have to admit he missed having his dad around a lot. At first it was nice seeing his dad become a better man, but it was hard to wake up some mornings and see his father already gone for work. That didn’t stop his father from sending him happy little texts every day. They were simple, but Jeremy really appreciated them. He turned his attention back to The squip, who seemed to be shaking a lot, which is when Jeremy realized it's August in the north, of course it would be freezing outside. “You’ve never felt the cold before?” Jeremy teased, which caused the squip to look up at him, annoyed. “Obviously I have never felt cold, I have never been able to feel anything before last night” the squip scowled. Once they had reached the bus stop, Jeremy removed his signature blue cardigan and held it out for the squip. “Here” Jeremy said, as he waited for the squip to take it. The squip looked puzzled as his eyes darted back and forth between the jacket and Jeremy. Slowly, the squip took Jeremy's jacket and put it on. “I truly don’t understand why you would give me your jacket. How will you keep yourself from getting cold?” the squip asked. “I don’t get cold very easily” Jeremy lied. Both he and the squip were well aware that Jeremy would get cold as soon as temperatures dropped below 80 (seriously Jeremy?), but the squip still chose to take Jeremy's answer and not question it. 

 

After the awkward bus ride and the squips quiet nagging about how “a senior should be able to drive on his own Jeremy, not take the bus”, they arrived at school. Jeremy walked in, more confident than usual (which was no confidence), as the squip trailed extremely close to Jeremy, like he was afraid he was going to lose him in the crowd of teenage angst.

 

“Hey guys!” Jeremy said cheerfully as he approached his group of friends. They all turned their attention to Jeremy, confused by the figure standing behind him. “Who’s the new kid?” Jake asked, tilting his head up from his phone to face the squip. “Uh...this is Stephen. He is a new transfer student here so i decided to help him out” Jeremy said awkwardly as the squip took a step out to stand next to him. “Really? You’re never typically the guy to help out a new kid” Chloe said, staring at the squip as if she were examining every part of him. Jeremy didn’t really know how to respond to that, mostly because it was true. Outside of his friend group, he usually avoided other people, so him randomly helping a new student would sound sketchy. But before he could come up with a response, the squip had made one up himself. 

“Jeremy and I have actually been friends for a long time now” the squip said, which made everyone look up, staring at the squip, confused. Even Michael looked up, who up to this point had been looking at his phone, not acknowledging them. Michael never ignored Jeremy when he got to school, his doing that made something in Jeremy hurt as he wondered why Michael would want to ignore him. He snapped out of his own mind and looked back to the squip as he continued talking. 

 

“Jeremy and I have been pen pals for a very long time” the squip continued, “we would talk and email often, so when I found out I had the opportunity to transfer here and live with my best friend, I was simply overjoyed.” Jeremy sighed at the squips story. There is no way his friends would believe that. It all seemed a little to specific and well..squip like. The way the squip talked didn’t feel normal, it felt robotic. Jeremy would have to work on that with him. Even though the story sounded so fake, he was surprised to see his friends giving warm smiles to the squip. “Well, any friend of Jeremy's is a friend of mine!” Christine said, giving the squip a warm smile. The squip tried to give a smile back, but it came out looking more like a crooked unreadable expression. 

 

“Well, first period is coming up, what class do you have first Stephen?” Brooke asked, looking over the squips shoulder to see his schedule. “Uh- I believe I have algebra with Jeremy right now” the squip said quietly. “Cool! I’m going to head over to my class now!” Jake said. “I’ll walk you over there!” rich offered, but Jake didn’t seem interested. “That’s okay man, I can walk myself. I’ll see you at lunch” Jake said as he gave rich a small kiss on the cheek and walked off. Rich would usually be satisfied at that, but today he seemed a little off put by Jake leaving, and he just waved the group goodbye and quietly left to class. Jeremy noticed that the squip took interest in the interaction. The squip looked deep in thought, like he was trying to analyze what he just saw between rich and Jake. Jeremy doesn’t really remember when exactly the squip faded out of his mind, or what he remembers as he was there. That thought kind of stung Jeremy in a way he never really thought of. The squip had been sitting in his head for who knows how long, just watching everything Jeremy was doing. He stopped speaking to Jeremy, and he just assumed the squip was gone for good. Maybe the squip never left? Maybe he was always there, just sitting in the back of Jeremy's mind doing exactly what he was doing right now, just observing every interaction Jeremy had with others. That thought sent a chill down Jeremy's spine.

 

Soon after Chloe walked off, followed by Brooke, then Christine, who promised to meet up later to help Jeremy get ready for auditions. 

 

Jeremy was about to take the squip with him to class, when suddenly he was pulled over by Michael. “Yo dude, can we talk for a minute?” Michael asked. Jeremy could tell Michael seemed a little annoyed with Jeremy. That typical cheery Michael smile and the gleam in his soft brown eyes wasn't there. Instead, Michael seemed to be paranoid and cautious, his eyes darting around and he tried to avert meeting eyes with Jeremy. Jeremy looked over at the squip, who just shrugged. “I will be waiting for you over there” the squip said as he walked a small distance away and propped himself up against the hallway and waited for Jeremy. 

 

“So what's really going on here?” Michael asked, slightly agitated and fidgety. “Wh-what do you mean” Jeremy asked nervously. There was no way Michael would have believed the squips story, but Jeremy wasn’t ready to let the secret loose on day one. “So we’ve been friends for 12 years and yet you have never brought up this Stephen guy?” Michael stuttered, avoiding Jeremy's eyes.It hurt Jeremy to lie to Michael, but he knew he had too. Michael wouldn’t forgive Jeremy if he knew he was helping the squip again, but he also wouldn’t forgive Jeremy for lying to him. “It’s just that...you have never said anything about this other guy before today and suddenly he is wearing your clothes and apparently he’s staying at your place?” Michael spoke quietly.Michael seemed very upset by this, Jeremy needed to do his best to keep the squip from getting in any trouble, and that meant he would have to make Michael like him too. “Michael, you’re my best friend, you know that! Stephen is my friend, but he will never be able to replace my player two” Jeremy said jokingly as he nudged Michael in the ribs. Michael let out a small laugh and Jeremy noticed his face turn a light shade of red. “Yeah...yeah dude i’m sorry. I guess i’m just getting a little jealous. I’ll see you at lunch” Michael said as he waved them goodbye.

 

Jeremy walked back over to the squip. “He definitely doesn’t seem to like me” the squip stated. “No shit Sherlock” Jeremy retorted. “After all this time, i’m still surprised he stayed with you” the squip said giving Jeremy a smirk. “Well, I wouldn’t have to worry about ever having to lose him if it weren’t for you” Jeremy said coldly. The squip seemed to shut up after that. “Come on, we are going to be late for class” Jeremy said quietly as he began to walk to class. The squip caught up to him and began to trail behind him slowly. “Jeremy I-i’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that” the squip stuttered. Jeremy gave the squip a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it for now, we just have a long way to go if we are going to make you into a good person” he told the squip, and they continued the rest of their walk to class in silence. 

 

Jeremy couldn’t help but let his mind to wonder to Michael. The squip was right, Michael has stayed with Jeremy through everything, even though he doesn't deserve it. Michael seemed really upset about the whole thing this morning. Jeremy hadn’t really been thinking about Michael when he thought through this whole plan. But Jeremy reassured himself that no matter what, he wasn’t going to let this project of him get in the way of him and his best friend. At least Jeremy knew Michael wasn’t too mad about everything.

 

But oh boy, was Jeremy wrong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you like the story so far, the next chapter will focus more on the other two characters with their own narration, wonder who it could be?!


	3. chapter three: well aint someone jealous?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael doesn't want to lose his friend, is that too much to ask?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you like angst cause this chapter is full of it! remember if you want to talk to me you can message me on tumblr, i would love yo hear what you have to say! enjoy the chapter!

Michael was expecting this year to finally go his way. After everything that had happened the previous year, he was ready to move on and finish high school strong. All he wanted was to graduate with his best friend, maybe go to collage together, room together, be together…

 

_ Snap out of it!  _ Michael thought to himself. Of course he loved jeremy, he has had a crush on him for years. Everything about jeremy made michael all but swoon. Jeremys laugh, the freckles on his nose, the way he gets really loud when he talks about something he loves. Michael wanted nothing more than to spend every moment with him. That's why it shattered every part of his heart when jeremy left him alone in that bathroom halloween night just to replace him with a computer. Michael knew it wasn't really jeremy who did that, but it didn't stop the aching feeling in his head every time he thought about it. Even so, after the play michael just came running back to jeremy. Jeremy was happy to see michael, and michael wanted nothing more but to make things go back to the way they were, with him and jeremy being just as close, maybe closer. But after all they have been through, michael doesn’t know if he can confess to jeremy. Michael wanted nothing more than to be with jeremy, but he knew jeremy would never feel the same. Still, it couldn’t mean michael couldn’t dream. All michael wanted right now was to enjoy the rest of high school with his favorite person

 

What he was not expecting, was for jeremy to enter school with another boy. Not just any boy, but an extremely attractive one. This guy looked like he could be in one of those famous japanese pop bands. He was tall, pretty lean, curly jet black hair, and the most piercing pair of blue eyes he had ever seen.  He basically looked like the perfect man. But the part that really make michael’s gut twist was that he was wearing jeremy’s jacket. JEREMY’S. JACKET. 

 

This was jeremy’s favorite blue cardigan, he always wore that thing. The only person he ever let wear that jacket was….him. Now michael was seeing some random man he has never seen in his life wearing it. It made michael feel angry. Who was this guy anyway! 

 

When jeremy introduced him, michael tried his best to just ignore them. He didn’t like that he was feeling jealous, but he couldn’t help it.  _ Maybe _ , michael thought,  _ maybe if i just block them out, I won’t have to worry about the jealousy I feel.  _ Michael just continued listening to marley on his phone, when suddenly he heard something that peaked his interest. 

 

“Jeremy and I have been pen pals for a very long time” the new guy, Stephen said. Michael looked up and listened to Stephen talk about how they had been talking for years, how jeremy was letting Stephen crash at his house, how Stephen referred to jeremy as his best friend. It made michael's blood boil. For all the 12 years of him and jeremy being friends, he had never brought up Stephen once. So how could he possible say that he is jeremy’s best friend? 

 

It didn’t make michael as mad at jeremy as it did make him feel betrayed. If jeremy really had a pen pal for years, he would have told michael, right? Would jeremy really lie to michael about having another friend? And the way this guy spoke just make michaels stomach twist. He was quiet, but his voice sounded robotic and inhuman. The way he phrased things sounded more like a program than a person. He was definitely not the type of person jeremy would hang out with, so what caused them to become so close? What did he have that michael didn’t?

 

Michael tried to have a conversation with jeremy before class, but it was so damn hard. Not only was it distracting to try and express his feelings while trying to look at jeremy's soft eyes looking straight into his soul, but that stephen guy was still there! He was watching them from a bit away, waiting for jeremy to return to him. Jeremy was too close to michael to lose him to some new kid from ohio. Michael had not built up his friendship and his crush for years only to have some boy take that away. 

 

Michael was going to do everything in his power to make sure that his best friend stayed his best friend, and only his.

 

*********************

 

The squips first day had not been going as he wanted it too.

 

It was hard having to adjust to a human body. Having to deal with things like the cold are just not what computers were made for. He was made to help jeremy, but all he ended up doing was ruining the lives of jeremy and his friends.

 

It truly did hurt the squip to see them. When he walked in behind jeremy this morning, he was frightened. Would they figure out it was him? How was he going to help them? He definitely picked up on a few things. He noticed the blond girl, brooke, and how she was constantly staring at the taller brunette, and followed her as she went to class. He noticed how the taller boy, jake walked to class, and how he avoided his boyfriend's attempts to walk with him. The squip remembered rich. He remembered how rich also had a squip. The squip wondered if he was doing as well as jeremy was.

 

But the squip already had made his first big mistake. He was just trying to play it cool, stay quiet and hope he wouldn't get caught. He didn't think he would have to worry about that with jeremy. But of course, the squip made snide comment about michael that made jeremy shut down. Of course it was going to be michael that tripped jeremy up. the squip had treated michael the worst, he forced jeremy to neglect his only friend and let him suffer alone. Michael was also going to be the one the squip would have the hardest time helping. Michael seemed to want to have nothing to do with him, and it made the squip feel that pain again. He wanted to stop feeling the pain, to push it away the only way he knew how. So he told jeremy something he shouldn't have. Jeremy told him it was alright, but the squip knew what he had said hurt jeremy and there was nothing he could do about it.

 

The squip spent all of first period watching jeremy, waiting for him to give the squip any sort of acknowledgement. Nothing happened. The squip felt a gut wrenching feeling down in his stomach. The squip identified that this was guilt. He also knew that he hated feeling it. The squip hated feeling anything at all. He missed being just a computer in jeremy's mind, he didn't have emotions so he didn't have to worry about all this guilt. 

 

Now second period was about to start, and jeremy had quietly walked the squip to his next class. The squip wanted to tell jeremy he was sorry again, but knew there would be no point right now. The squip just felt nice knowing jeremy was still helping him, even after everything. The squip didn't even deserve jeremy. He did awful things to him, and then begged for his help. And jeremy just accepted it. He hardly asked questions and was actually making an attempt to help. It made the squip feel even worse knowing all he was doing was pushing jeremy further away. If he wanted to make things better, he has to treat jeremy better.

 

Jeremy left for his own class, leaving the squip alone in the english classroom. “Ah! So you must be stephen, the new kid?” The teacher had said as he saw the squip enter the room. The squip didn't really think he was talking to him, then remembered stephen was the fake name jeremy picked out for him. “Oh! Yeah that is me” the squip said shyly as he felt the eyes of the entire classroom on him. This feeling of eyes on him wouldn't have bothered him before, but now as he was feeling it first hand, it made everything seem more real. 

 

“Well Mr. Morris” the teacher began, “the only seat we have left is in the back. Why don't you have seat next to Mr. Mell.” The squips blood ran cold as he saw michael's eyes shooting daggers at him from across the room. The squip simply nodded and walked slowly over to michael and took a seat next to him.

 

The squip tried to pay attention, but it was hard when he noticed michael would not stop staring at him. He just sat there, giving the squip the dirtiest look he had ever seen.  _ Just don't look at him and you will be fine _ the squip thought. But that thought didn't last long as michael opened his mouth.

 

“So you're stephen?” Michael whispered, trying not to catch the teacher's attention as he gave his lecture. “Yes. You are michael right? Jeremy's friend?” The squip said in return, still not trying to meet michael's eyes. “I'm actually his best friend” michael shot back coldly. The squip could feel michael's eyes burn into his skin, he felt like he couldn't move. Maybe the squip had been misjudging him all this time, or maybe michael had just suddenly become super intimidating. 

 

“Do you have something you need to tell me michael?” The squip said plainly. He longed for nothing more than this conversation to end, but the air was thick with tension and he knew that wouldn't die out quick. 

 

“I just want you to know something” michael began quietly, “i know you and jeremy must be close, and i'm glad he's made friends, but jeremy is also my best friend. You need to know that no one will ever come between me and jeremy, ever. You are his friend, but don't think for a second that you can just move here and replace me from his life, got it?” Michael spoke smoothly, like he had been preparing this speech since this morning. Of course the squip had no intention of breaking apart the two boys, but michael suggesting that the squip was some sort of obstacle between the two made the squips face burn. Part of him wanted to tease michael. Part of him wanted to just act like his old self, to say some dumb and hurtful thing to shut michael up. But the squip knew better. He knew he shouldn't say that kind of stuff if he wanted to make michael like him. Still, his feelings got the best of him, and the squips words fell somewhere between the two moral options.

 

“You must care about him a lot” the squip said as he noticed that his words had surprised michael. “Wh-what? Of co-course I care about him. H-he's my friend!” 

Michael stuttered. The squip noticed michaels face turn a deep shade of red, and he knew hed pressed the right buttons to set michael off. But the squip wasn't going to push it, he didn't need michael to hate him on the first day. A moment that seemed like an eternity of silence passed between the two boys before the squip decided to put an end to the tension. “I'm not trying to ruin what you have with jeremy. He and I are just friends, I have no intention of getting between the two of you” the squip said. And just like that, the two boys dropped all conversation and sat in silence for the rest of the period. 

 

The squip hoped that his answer to michael would be enough to calm the hot water starting to boil between the two of them, but deep down the squip knew this was not the end of this argument. The bell rang to signify the end of the period, and michael quickly grabbed his bag to leave, sneaking a quick look in the squips direction before heading out of class.

 

_ Just have to make it through the end of the day, _ the squip thought.  _ How hard can that be? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what will happen next?! next chapter we will dive straight into the first big arc so buckle up!


	4. Chapter four: new information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lunch time! the squip is eager to start helping people, and now he finally has a lead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter four at last! we are kicking off our first arc strong! i hope you guys enjoy it! remember if you ever have any questions or anything you want to say or share with me, you can always contact me on tumblr (yesiamthesquip on tumblr) anyways, enjoy chapter 4!

Third period went by uneventfully as the squip sat pondering. So much had happened today, and he was ready to kick off his mission. He wasn’t sure how exactly to help everyone, but he knew that he would need to talk to them more to get closer.

The squip walked into the cafeteria for lunch, looking around to see if he can spot jeremy. He was about to turn around and look for him when he heard someone call out to him.

“Hey! Stephen!” rich cheered happily from his table, gesturing for the squip to join him. The squip quickly walked over to rich and sat down. “Where is jeremy?” the squip asked. “Oh, he and christine are rehearsing their audition, they will be here soon. Hopefully the others are coming soon. I doubt jake will show up though..” rich trailed off. The squip knew about rich and jake being together, he saw it from jeremy’s mind while on shutdown. “Is something going on with jake? I assume he is your boyfriend” the squip said. Rich quickly turned his attention back to the squip. “Oh yeah, me and jake are together! Things have been going great for us, don’t worry” rich said, but the squip knew he needed to get to the bottom of this. “Why do you seem so nervous when you bring him up then?” the squip pushed. He needed to get the information out of rich, it’s the only way he can help. Rich was silent for a while, studying the squip. He looked deep into the squips blue eyes, then with a sigh, began to talk. 

“You and jeremy are close, he seems to trust you, i guess i can. But if you tell anyone i will beat your ass, you hear me?” rich said, to with the squip quickly recoiled. “Don’t worry, anything you say is safe with me” the squip reassured. “Well, jake has seemed to be hanging out with me a little less. I mean, there really isn't a problem with that you know! Space is fine, i can accept jake needing some space, but...he’s been hanging around this place called sbarro's, you know that place?” rich awaited the squips answer. The squip quickly nodded and rich continued. “Well, there is this guy that works there, Dustin Kropp. I don’t mean to sound jealous, but jake has been hanging around him a lot, and it seems like jake really likes him. I know jake wouldn’t cheat on me, but maybe he is just...getting tired of me? You don’t think that do you?” rich looked at the squip anxiously. The squip was surprised by how easily rich had opened up to him. The squip gave rich a shy smile. “I’m sure jake just needs space, i doubt he would be seeing this dustin guy behind your back”. The squip was happy to have gotten the information out of rich, now he had his first mission. He could help find out what jake is up to for rich!

A few moments later jake, chloe, and brooke arrived, later followed by christine and jeremy. They all began talking, the squip sort of staying out of the conversation. He answered a question every now and then, but was mostly just looking at the rest of the group, seeing if he could find any useful information. He noticed rich wouldn’t keep his eyes off of jake, and how brooke would blush every time chloe’s arm brushed against hers. It was quite cute, seeing all these kids get flustered over each other. The squip enjoyed this, it was nice to be involved in a conversation, instead of just watching from the background. 

“So, october is only a few months away” jake began, cutting off brooke’s rant about madeleines new hair cut. “Who’s down for a halloween party? You know, when its time?” jake said, and the whole group seemed to quiet down. The squip could almost feel the pain emanating throughout the table. The halloween party last year was the worst party of their lives. Christine lost jake. Brooke lost jeremy. Chloe lost brooke. Rich set the fire. The squip could only wonder what happened to michael after they left him in the bathroom, the squip doubts it was good. “Wait! I didn’t mean anything like last year!” jake said quickly trying to reassure everyone. “I meant..just a small get together. Just us. Maybe some board games? Horror movies?” jake said, giving a sympathetic smile. Slowly, the others in the group agreed to the idea. 

More time past in the cafeteria before jeremy brought up the inevitable question. “Hey? Why is michael sitting over there alone?” jeremy gestured over to the other side of the cafeteria, where michael was sitting, pretending he didn’t notice them. The group pondered why, but it was the squip that knew the truth. Michael was still angry about this morning, he probably didn’t want to sit with them if he were there. Well, if the squip was going to help, he might as well let michael in, he can find somewhere else for now. The squip stands up. “I’ll go sit somewhere else for now, i will see you later” the squip said quietly as he walked away from the group before they could respond. Just like he predicted, michael walked over and joined the group after he left.

Now the squip faced a big problem, where was he going to sit? He scanned the cafeteria when a familiar face caught his attention. Jenna roland. The first person he convinced jeremy to squip. She was always so talkative and gossip filled. It surprised the squip to see her sitting all alone. He decided it best to sit with her. 

 

**********

 

“Who are you?” jenna asked as the squip sat down across from her. “I’m Stephen. I’m new here, i was kinda looking for a place to sit, i don’t really have anyone to talk to” the squip smiled, and jenna gave him a look. “That’s not true, i just saw you hanging around jeremy and his friends” darn, jenna was observing the squip thought. “Well, i-i just thought” the squip tried to think of an excuse, but his ideas got jumbled in his head and came out of his mouth like a river all at once. Jenna gave a big laugh. “Okay, you’re funny. You can stay” she said happily.

The squip was pleasantly surprised while hanging out with jenna. She was very interesting, filling him in on all the drama. Of course he already knew it, seeing it through jeremy’s eyes, but jenna made it all seem much more interesting. She talked about everything in such detail, but something about it seemed off. Jenna talked about it like she was an outsider, someone always looking in instead of being included. The squip began to think back on jenna.

Jenna never really hung out with jeremy much. She never really hung out with anyone much. She stopped trying to hang around chloe and brooke a while after the play, and soon after she seemed to just disappear from jeremy’s sight completely. Maybe she was lonely? Well, she was affected by the squip, which means it’s up to him to help her.

The bell rang, ending lunch. The squip got up to leave but was stopped by jenna, who grabbed his arm. “Wha-” the squip said, startled as jenna pulled out a pen. “Text me!” is all she said before skipping off to class. The squip looked down at his arm, numbers. Her phone number! This was good! Now he could talk to jenna more!

The squip may be starting off slow, but now he knew where to start. Talk to jenna. Investigate jake. Got to sbarros. Sounds weird, but hey, it's a start.


	5. Chapter five: pizza, rehersal, and dustin kropp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the squip is trying to piece together the situation with jake, but maybe hes found the solution to his problem with jenna?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! we are diving straight into the plot with big plot points coming up! remember if you ever have any questions or comments my inbox is always open on tumblr (yesiamthesquip) look at the end of the chapter for actual notes on the chapter

The squips fell into a routine over the next week. Go to school, hang out with everyone, go to sbarros, play video games with jeremy, all while constantly texting jenna. When jeremy introduced the squip to his father, they gave them the same story they presented to jeremy’s friends. Mr. heere was very open to having the squip stay with them, and was very kind to the squip. The squip enjoyed mr heere, he was very entertaining and gleeful. It seems after the squip went away, mr heere really did step up his role as a father. He was kind and supportive to jeremy, and jeremy was definitely more open and respectful to his father. 

The squips now regular trips to sbarros after school has been proving slightly effective. The first two days he went, there was no sign of jake, but he did get to see dustin kropp. The squip didn’t want to be brutally honest to rich, but dustin is a very attractive man. He’s the perfect example of tall, dark, and handsome. Strong facial structure, bright brown eyes, a cool wheelchair, silky hair, cute dimples…..rich was in trouble. He had a couple conversations to dustin, and he was very funny and charismatic. He seemed like a great match for jake, but he wasn’t going to mention that. On the third day of stalking sbarros, jake finally made an entrance. 

“Hey stephen! I didn’t know you liked to come here!” jake said cheerfully, taking a seat next to the squip. “Oh yeah, it’s a nice place to hang after school” the squip joked. They talked for a bit about school, the squip tried to get any information from him to see if he was being unfaithful, but he couldn’t get anything out of jake. He was able to find out the aftermath of the fire. “Yeah...after the house burned down, i kinda just moved in with rich. My parents didn’t really seem to care” he said like it didn’t matter. The squip was trying to look at jake, figure out that statement. Jake was a kind guy, why did he seem so nonchalant and chill when talking about his parents? Before he could ask anything, they were approached by dustin. 

“Hey guys! I’m on break, mind if i join?” he asked, and we quickly allowed him to sit in. the squip took time, observing jake and dustin interact, but found nothing unusual. They were close, but it didn’t seem like jake was trying to get with him. They sat and talked for a while longer about school and such, the squip trying to push rich into the conversation, but jake deflected all his attempts. What was it about rich that jake was avoiding? He didn’t seem mad at rich, but he just seemed to be...distant. It eventually led to the topic of jenna.

“So, i’ve seen you hanging around jenna?” dustin teased and jake gave him a sly smile. “Yeah, she’s really nice” the squip said happily, causing jake and dustin to laugh. “Dude, she totally has a thing for you” dustin joked, and the squip felt very uncomfortable. Maybe that was why jenna was lonely? Maybe she wanted a relationship? The squip needed to think

Anyways, they all parted ways, planning to meet back a sbarros together more regularly.

********

“You ready for your first drama club?” jeremy asked as they were walking through the halls. The squip was happy to see jeremy smiling at him again. The squip had tried giving jeremy his space after he upset him and sure enough, the following day jeremy was okay again. “I’m sure it will be fine, what kind of stuff are you working on in here?” the squip asked jeremy. “We are working on auditions for the musical, its a partner audition so you need to find a partner to work with” jeremy explained as he walked into the drama room. Everyone began to split up and do their own thing, but christine wanted to put the squip in the spotlight.

“So stephen, were you gonna audition for the musical?” christine asked, and everyone turned to the squip. “Uh-i never really thought about it” the squip said plainly, and everyone suddenly became invested in trying to convince the squip to audition. 

“It would be fun….but i don’t have a partner like jeremy said” the squip said, when suddenly he felt someone rush up right next to him. Jenna rolan. “Maybe i could be your partner” jenna said, her eyes gleaming with happiness. Everyone looked at the squip for a response. “Well...i guess im out of excuses” the squip said smiling, and everyone cheered. 

“Well maybe since you are auditioning, michael has no excuse now.” jeremy teased, leaning over to michael, who was now blushing which seemed to be obvious to everyone but jeremy. “M-me? No way man, i’m going to stick to what i’m best at, and thats being the most boss stage manager” michael cheered, pumping his fists in the air. “Oh come on! You have a beautiful singing voice!” jeremy said sweetly, and michael looked away, his face even redder. “I-i think im gonna be just fine as a stage manager”. After a bit more talking, they split into their own little groups, the squip going off with jenna.

“So i can give you the music tomorrow, i didn’t really expect to be auditioning so i just keep the music up in my room. I’m going to have to teach you the dance also. Oh and-” jenna started rambling on, and the squip got lost staring at jenna. He thought back to what dustin said. Did jenna like the squip like that? They had grown pretty close over the past week, but that’s not long enough to date someone, is it? 

“Stephen, are you listening?” jenna asked, waiting for an answer. The squip just stared for a long time. Did she like him? Was this how to solve her problem? Did she want a boyfriend? 

“Uh-well i was thinking we could talk more about this over dinner sometime” the squip said quickly, and jenna’s eyes widened. “You mean….like a date?” she asked slowly, yet loudly. Loud enough to get the rest of the drama club starring. There was a long pause and the squip quietly responded. “...yes” he said, and jenna laughed. “That sounds fun. How about friday night? I’m picking the meeting spot though?” she joked. Before anyone could speak, mr reyes came in, saying drama club had ended. Jenna quickly skipped away. 

“Jenna rolan?” jeremy questioned, walking over to him. “Yeah! Got a problem with that?” the squip teased and everyone laughed, but the squip quietly leaned over to jeremy and whispered “i’ll explain later”, causing jeremy to give him a very confused look. “I think it will work out great!” michael said cheerfully, but gave the squip a look that looked anything but cheerful. The squip wondered if he was actually happy for him, or glad he wasn’t going to get in the way of jeremy. The squip chose to believe the latter of the two. 

Jeremy and the squip quietly made their way home, the squip too lost in thought. Friday night.

 

A date with jenna rolan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so  
> -my friends and I headcanon that dustin is disabled, we also headcanon that he is the perfect man and a total icon  
> -the duel partners for play auditions is based of high school musical, cause thats the musical they are doing  
> -they all have to perform sharpay and ryans "bop to the top"  
> -michael loves tech and directing so he loves being a stage manager  
> -he is a beautiful singer but has only sung for jeremy
> 
> stay tuned for the next chapter where we really kick things up!


	6. Chapter six: video games and phone calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the squip needs to help rich and jake, but there is always time for a little apocalypse of the damned too, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who's ready for a long chapter! i plan on uploading another chapter later tonight because i have no self control. if you have anything you want to say at all, please don't be afraid to contact me!
> 
> anyway, here is a whole lot of romance baiting

“I don’t know, i mean it’s a nice thing you’re trying to do but-” jeremy said in the dark room, only illuminated by the tv flashing the title screen of Apocalypse of the Damned. The squip had filled him in on the day’s events, and jeremy did not seem to keen on his plan. “Are you just planning to stay with her forever? I mean it’s nice you want to help but if you’re only doing this because you think she wants to-” jeremy started but was cut off by the squip. “Relax jeremy, it will all work out. If this is what she wants then i have to make sure she’s happy” he tried to reassure jeremy, but it sounded like the squip was trying more to reassure himself. The room filled with silence before the squip awkwardly broke it. “W-whatever, just teach me how to play this game” he said grumpily. 

 

After half an hour of jeremy teaching the squip how to play, they had just barely made it to the checkpoint. “This game is pointless, we are never getting through this!” the squip said angrily, practically chucking his controler at the wall. “Hey! We can get through this! Here just let me show you.”  jeremy said leaning over. He put his hands around the squips and began showing him what to do. “You really are going to have to learn to block when a zombie is coming towards you or we are never going to finish the level” jeremy advised as he guided the squip through part of the level. Not to long after jeremy let go of the squip and the squip was making progress on his own. They continued to barrel through the level before they finally made it to the boss. “This is a really hard boss, it took michael and I hours to beat it the first time” jeremy warned. “Well, then it should be easier for you to beat it this time” the squip joked, and they went forward into the boss. Fifteen minutes later, the boss was defeated and the level was won. Jeremy and the squip threw their hands up in the air and cheered. They hadn’t noticed the shadow that appeared in the doorway until they cleared their throat, causing jeremy and the squip to jump and turn around. 

 

“Michael!” jeremy said happily. How long had michael been there? Surely not that long, but he should have at least mentioned his presence. “You forgot about me staying the night tonight?” michael joked, walking over to jeremy and ignoring the squip. “I didn’t forget, i just got sidetracked, i’ve been teaching squ-I MEAN stephen how to play” jeremy stuttered. Michael was about to say something about jeremy almost messing up the name, but he quickly pushed that topic away. “We beat our previous time for the boss battle” jeremy cheered. The squip could feel that he was getting in the way of whatever was going on here, and decided now was a good time to leave. “I’ll be up in the guest room” the squip said, getting off the bean bag. He walked over to michael and handed him the game controler, and they made eye contact for a split second. The squip swore he saw a smirk cross michaels face, but decided not to worry.  _ I had better things to do right now _ the squip thought as he exited the room, leaving michael and jeremy alone. 

 

*********

Michael was trying not to let his jealousy get to him, he was trying to open up more and at least be in the group at the same time as the squip. God, michael felt stupid thinking like this, he knew stephen wasn’t trying to do anything to michael, but it didn’t stop michael from feeling bad when he saw him playing with jeremy, sitting close to each other and laughing like close friends. 

 

Ever since the play ended, michael wanted to say they went back to being close, but michael knows better. On jeremy’s side, things did get closer. Jeremy feels like he can be more open than before. He talks to michael a lot about what’s happened, he usually apologizes a lot and they just sit in silence, usually hugging. To jeremy, they couldn’t be closer, but michael knows better. He knows jeremy wouldn’t be as happy with michael if he really knew what happened to michael at the halloween party. All jeremy thinks is that michael left after jeremy did. He has no idea about what michael went through, and michael wants to keep it that way.

 

“Hey michael, you okay?” jeremy asked. Michael looked up and noticed the paused game, and jeremy staring at him concerned.  Michael couldn’t get over how cute jeremy looked, eyes shining and reflecting the dim light from the tv screen. “Sorry, i just got lost in thought” michael said, not moving his eyes away from jeremy’s. They ended up sitting there together for a moment, michael didn’t realize that he had been leaning in. jeremy didn’t seem to mind.  _ Was jeremy about to lean in to? Oh my god i think jeremy is leaning in _ michael thought.  _ They were very close, very very close. They were so close michael could maybe even- _

 

“JEREMY!” mr heere shouted from upstairs, quickly causing both boys to jump. “Yeah dad!” jeremy shouted up, sounding aggravated. Did he not want the moment to end too? Michael thought. He got so caught up in his thoughts he didn’t even notice jeremy walked upstairs. Michael waited until jeremy returned moments later. “Sorry about that, my dad didn’t know you were here and got a little freaked out” jeremy laughed. Michael noticed jeremy was a little red.  _ Was michael as red as jeremy? Oh god he needed to stop.  _

 

“Soooo….where were we?” michael asked hopefully. “Uh w-we were uh...finishing this level!” jeremy quickly said, rushing back to get his controler.  _ Well, _ michael thought,  _ maybe another time.  _

 

_ ********* _

 

The squip sat alone on the bed in the guest room. It was nice of mr heere to let him stay here, it was much more comfortable than the floor of jeremy’s room. He was thinking of texting jenna, but he suddenly felt a buzz on his phone. It was rich calling.

 

“Hey, what’s going on?” the squip asked. “Dude, so you have been hanging around jake, has he said anything? Done anything?” rich said nervously. The squip sighed. “Rich, maybe it would be best if you just talked to jake about this.” the squip suggested. It’s not like that was bad advice, it’s the best thing rich can do right now. “Stephen i-i just...i just don’t think i can do that” rich sighed. He sounded defeated. The squip was not ready to let rich give up.  _ Think _ the squip thought,  _ how can you get rich and jake alone together to talk _ . “How about you guys go out on a date?” the squip suggested, to which rich scoffed. “No offence, but i have already tried. Jake keeps blowing me off” he said. “How about I talk to him, maybe i can convince him to spend a little time with you?” the squip said hopefully. “If jake really wanted to be with me, he wouldn’t need you to convince him to hang out with his boyfriend” rich said sadly. Before the squip could say anything else, rich hung up. 

 

Oh no, the squip was not going to give up. He dialed jakes number. One ring, two rings…

 

“Hey stephen” jake said. “Hey, where are you at right now?” the squip asked quickly. “Oh! I’m over at dustin’s house. Sorry we didn’t invite you. We kind of have this thing where we do movie marathons, it’s kind of an us thing” jake cheered. No wonder rich seems so defeated, he can’t get a hold of jake half the time cause he’s hanging out with dustin. 

 

“Listen jake..” the squip began “rich feels pretty alone right now. I don’t need to be the one to boss you around, but maybe you guys should go on a date sometime. Maybe soon? I think rich is starting to feel a little…” the squip trailed off, not sure how to answer the sentence. There was silence for a long time. “Y-yeah. A date sounds good for us” jake said. He sounded hurt, the squip wondered why. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow” the squip said. After not getting a response, he hung up.

 

God, he hopes this works out.


	7. chapter seven: the date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the date is here, what could happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is really bittersweet! also i just finished my second chapter in one day wow i have no self control please enjoy!

“I think it looks good on you” jeremy smiled as the squip examined himself in the mirror. He looked way more formal than he had been dressing before. Jeremy had let him borrow a blue button up and and the squip had spent a little too long fixing his hair and worrying. He didn’t know how to really describe what he was feeling. It was times like these he missed being a computer. He hated all these feelings. Sometimes it felt good, like when he was gaming with jeremy. He knew that feeling was happiness. But he also can’t help but absolutely hate feeling all other emotions. Sometimes it’s hard to even pick out the emotions he feels. He knows he hates the feeling he gets everytime he sees michael upset with him. He hated the feeling he got when he called rich the other night. The feeling he had when he asked out jenna? He doesn’t even know.

 

Did he want to go out with her? She is a very nice girl, but the squip has never been a dating person. His whole function was to get a date for jeremy, and that didn’t really work out too well. Not he was walking out the door to go on a date of his own. A date he wasn’t even sure he wanted to go on.

 

The squip made his way to the front of the nature park. It was a very pretty place, especially now, with the sun about to set. He sat there and waited anxiously for jenna to arrive. He didn’t really know what he was going to do. He had prepared everything to ever say and do to a girl to get them to fall for them, but that was only for when you wanted it. The squip wasn’t sure if he really wanted this in the first place. All these stupid emotions! The squip hated them. He hated feeling like this. He didn’t even know how to describe what he was feeling besides how much it hurt his heart.  _ Be strong, this is for jenna  _ the squip thought. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn’t notice jenna sneak up behind him. 

 

The squip jumped and turned around, now face to face with jenna. She looked absolutely stunning. She wore a cute flowey pink dress and put a little braid in her hair. 

 

“You look amazing” the squip complimented her. “Thanks, you don’t look so bad yourself” jenna jokes, the squip stood awkwardly.  _ What was he going to do? _ Jenna seemed happy, he couldn’t do this to her. _ He had to push through, no matter how uncomfortable he felt, he had to do this for jenna to be happy.  _

 

They walked along the trail for a while. The squip felt wrong. He would feel so much better if this weren’t a date right now, but since it was it made him feel out of place. “So, tell me more about you” jenna said as they walked along. “Well...what do you want to know?” the squip said awkwardly. “Well...what do you like most about being here?”

 

They both sat down on a bench, viewing the hill. Jenna was awaiting his answer. What should he say? “Well...i enjoy being…..around you guys i guess” the squip started quietly. “For a long time….it was really just me and jeremy. Then for a while….it was just me. I’m glad to actually be around other people now. Its….nice to hang out with other people.” he said slowly. He wasn’t lying, he just wasn’t telling the complete truth. “I…..i did a lot of bad things in the past jenna” the squip said, turning to face her. She watched him intently, waiting to see what he would say next. “I know what i did was horrible, and there is nothing that i could ever do to fix it, but...i’m trying. I’m trying really hard but sometimes i just don’t know if i can fix it” he said, even quieter. Their was a pause between the two. “Yeah….i think i get what you’re saying” jenna said, causing the squip the look at her in shock. “R-really” he said. 

 

“Yeah. for a while, i tried desperately to find friends but….sometimes it’s hard when no one wants you around ever.” jenna said, giving a sad smile. The squip just looked at her, unable to speak. She looked really pretty with the light of the setting sun shining on her as it slowly begins to fall behind the hill.

 

“I’m really glad we are here tonight” jenna said, and the squip smiled. “y-yeah , me too” the squip said, his voice rising. “Is something wrong?” jenna asked, scooting closer.  _ Oh god _ . The squip didn’t know what to do.  _ He couldn’t let jenna down, just have to keep going, for jenna.  _ “N-no nothing is wrong” the squip said quickly. 

 

They sat there for a moment once more, watching the sunset together. “This is nice, it’s really great being with you” jenna said looking back up at the squip. They sat there for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes. Then it happened. Jenna slowly leaned in and pressed her lips softly against the squips.

 

At first, it was nice. Jenna’s lips were soft, and she was a very gentle kisser. The moment was short lived as suddenly all the squips feelings returned. Panic started to rise in his chest dramatically.  _ This is wrong _ he thought.  _ This is so wrong this needs to stop i need it to stop i don’t understand i don’t know I DON’T KNOW I DON- _

 

Suddenly, jenna pulled away, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry stephen, i don’t know what i was thinking. I thought this is what you wanted but-” she started, but stopped when she saw the squips mortified expression. “Stephen are you okay?!” she asked. She sounded genuinely concerned. “N-no its fi-fine you don’t n-need to ap-apologize it w-was my fau-fault i’m sorry” was all the squip could muster out. Jenna looked at him apologetically, and the squip but scooted away and put his face in his hands.

 

“I’m sorry jenna. I don’t think this is really going to work out” he said, not able to look her in the face. “I asked you out because i thought that’s what you wanted. I thought you wanted a boyfriend and so i tried to ask you out because i thought it would make you happy but-” he was cut off as jenna pulled him in for a tight hug. 

 

“Stephen..” jenna started, “i never needed a boyfriend to be happy, I really haven’t been looking for a relationship for a long time. I only said yes to you because i thought you really wanted too” she said sweetly, not letting go of the squip. “I-i’m sorry. I know these past few months have been bad for you, i just wanted to make you happy, i didn’t want you to be lonely” the squip said, his pitch rising slowly. Jenna pulled away, and the squip saw there were small tears at the corners of her eyes. “Stephen, i don’t need a boyfriend to be happy. All i need right now is a friend.” jenna said sweetly, giving a gentle smile. “Well...if it’s still okay, am I allowed to be that friend?” the squip asked slowly. Jenna laughed a little. “Of course you are going to be my friend. You say you are caught up with your past and you can’t make things right, but you can.” jenna said, and the squip looked up in shock. “You coming to this school is making things right. I’ve seen you with rich, you are really trying to help him” she said softly, putting a hand on his arm. “I don’t know who you hurt in the past, but i think you being here now, i think what you’re doing is enough to make things right. 

 

The squip smiled when he suddenly noticed something on his face. It was...wet? He put a hand up to his face and wiped it off. Was he crying? 

 

“Are you sure you are alright stephen?” jenna asked him, and he gave a small laugh. He was crying. It felt weird but...right. He had been bottling up all these feelings he didn’t know how to explain, but it felt amazing to get them out. It felt bittersweet in a way. “I think i’m going to be just fine” he said, as he allowed the tears to run down his face. 

 

They didn’t say more as they watched the sunset together, not as a couple, but as two friends, who had grown closer today. They ended up going back to talking like they did before. They talked about the auditions, about school, about all the little things they cared about. They began to head out of the park when he felt his phone buzz. It was rich again. “What do you think is going on?” jenna asked. The squip shrugged and picked up.

 

“St-stephen...i need your help” rich spoke quietly. He sounded upset. “Wh-whats going on! Where are you?” he asked nervously. “I’m in the bathroom at sbarros. Jake thought this would be a good place to have a date, funny huh?” he said, the anger and sadness rising in his voice. Before he could say anything else, the squip quickly responded. “We are on our way” the squip said and quickly hung up. The squip turned to jenna.

 

“Looks like we have another date to save.” the squip said as he rushed jenna out of the place. “Well...lets go then” jenna laughed.

 

And they were off.


	8. chapter eight: just the two of them

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's finally time to get to the bottom of the problem between rich and jake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy the last part of the rich jake arc! i hope you are ready to feel feelings because it gets pretty emotional. just a reminder if you ever have questions or anything you need to say you can contact me on my tumblr (@yesiamthesquip)

_ Rich and jake had been close for as long as rich could remember. Since seventh grade the two boys had been practically inseparable. It wasn’t until after rich got rid of his squip did he finally get the courage to ask jake out on a date. For months they were the perfect couple. They were always seen together, laughing and hand holding. They were the happiest months rich had ever experienced. Jake moving in with him and he finally didn’t have to deal with his father alone. He had someone to be with forever. Was rich in over his head in love with jake? Absolutely. _

 

_ Rich didn’t expect this now. He didn’t expect for jake to walk away from him so easily. Was it rich? Had he drove jake away? Rich felt his heart sore when jake asked him out on another date friday night. It had been so long, and rich hoped he could finally make things go back to before. He didn’t expect jake would take him to sbarro's, the one place rich had been avoiding. He didn’t expect jake to pick friday night because that’s when dustin was working. He definitely didn’t expect jake to spend a majority of the time talking to dustin. Was rich mad? Absolutely.   _

 

_ He didn’t mean to flip out on jake. All the words he had been storing in his head just seemed to flow out of his mouth like a river. All the feelings he kept bottled up for months just exploded. With every word rich shouted at jake, he could see jake’s face look more hurt. He looked like he wanted to cry. Rich didn’t seem to care in the moment. He wanted jake to know the pain he was feeling. How he felt second fiddle to dustin in his life. How he felt he could never compete with dustin. He didn’t mean to go off on dustin too, but it just happened. Rich was pissed and upset and he had nowhere else to run too. So now he sat on the floor of the bathroom he locked himself in. before the tears could fall from his face he quickly dialed stephen. Rich didn’t know why he did, but he felt like if anyone could help, it would be the one guy he’s already exploded his feelings onto. Did he need stephen to be here as soon as possible? Absolutely.  _

 

_ ************* _

 

The squip and jenna arrived as soon as they could. Obviously, it seemed they arrived a little too late. When they got there, everyone had left the place. The only people there were dustin and jake. Jake was sitting at a booth, his face buried in his hands. “What’s going on?” jenna asked as she made her way over to jake, placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. He looked up at jenna bewildered. “What are you guys doing here?” jake questioned. “Uh...rich called” the squip said quietly, and jake quickly buried his head in his hands again. “He’s uh...barricaded himself if the bathroom. If you wanna try to get through to him you can try, but I don’t know how it will go” dustin said awkwardly. The squip could tell dustin felt very uncomfortable. The squip prays rich didn’t do anything bad to dustin, he didn’t deserve that.

 

The squip made his way over to the bathroom door and knocked softly. “GO AWAY” rich shouted angrily. “Rich i-it’s me.” the squip said quietly. He slowly heard the sound of a door unlocking. 

 

When the squip entered the bathroom, he found rich curled up in a ball in the corner. “What did i do?” rich said quietly, looking up at the squip. He looked pitiful. His eyes were red and puffy, it made the squips heart burn. He walked over and took a seat next to rich. “Rich, what did you do?” the squip asked him. “I-i freaked out. Jake was….he was…..i got jealous.” rich spoke, his voice rising and falling. The squip offered a shoulder for rich, afraid he was about to cry again. Rich buried his head in the squips shoulder, trying his hardest not to cry. “What am i supposed to do now stephen? I don’t know how i am supposed to face him again.” he muffled silently. “Rich, you need to be the one to do this” the squip said standing up. “You have to talk to him rich. Your boyfriend is about as destroyed as you are. You need to talk to him before it’s too late.”  rich looked up at the squip again as he held out a hand for rich to take. Slowly, rich took the squips hand and the squip pulled him up. 

 

They slowly walked out back into the main area, and all eyes were on them. Rich almost shrank back into a little ball when he saw jake. “We should give you guys some space” dustin said, gesturing to jenna and the squip. The squip turned to rich and gave him a reassuring nod, and walked out the door with dustin and jenna. 

 

Now it was just the two of them.

 

*********

 

“Jake, i-i’m so sorry” rich said, taking a seat across from jake. He could already feel the tears welling up in his eyes again but held them back. “I just...why?” jake asked slowly, his eyes full of sadness. It broke rich to see how hurt jake looked. “I don’t know i just...i was jealous. I couldn’t stand you getting so close to dustin. I thought you were going to leave me” rich said softly. Jake sighed quietly. “Rich, i would never leave you. Sometimes i just like hanging out with other friends from time to time. I’m sorry I haven’t been around for you that much lately, I should have talked to you all this time” he said, taking rich’s hands in his. “Di-did i do something wrong?” rich said meeting jake’s eyes. “Was it because i’ve been too clingy? I’ve been trying to be less clingy. Was it because i’m too loud? It is because of what happens at my home? Was it because of…” rich trailed off, pulling away from jake. He didn’t need to say it for jake to know he was talking about the fire. Jake told him it was okay, but rich can never seem to forgive himself. He constantly thinks back to that night. 

 

“It it because of how i ruined your life?” rich asked, tears beginning to fall from his face again. “Is it because i destroyed you home? Is it because i caused you to lose everything? Is it because losing your house was what caused your parents not to come back” rich’s voice cracked as he began to curl in on himself. “Is it because I made you lose your parents” he mumbled. 

 

The room grew almost deathly quiet, the only sound being rich’s muffled crying. Jake slowly moved to sit next to rich. Rich slowly sat up to look jake in the eye. “Rich, you’ve got it all wrong” jake said, taking rich’s hand again. “The house being gone, it changed everything, but not how you think” jake gave a small smile and rich looked confused. 

 

“I guess i never really told you much about my parents have i?” jake said, leaning back in his seat. “They were always gone. They didn’t care about me at all. I was always struggling to be the best at everything. I thought if i was the best, maybe they would start caring about me.” jake said. “Jake..” rich began to talk but was shushed by jake. “I just tried to convince everyone i was okay, and everyone believed it. Soon i started believe it myself.” jake’s eyes began to water as well. Rich could feel his own heart breaking with every word jake said. “When the house burned down, i suddenly realized something” jake began. “I realized how unhappy i actually was. I couldn’t keep lying to myself. I had to do something. I couldn’t just pretend to be happy, i had to go out and find happiness on my own. When the house burned down, it burned down all those bad feelings, all the bad memories i’ve had. It was like i was having a fresh start.” jake smiled softly and turned back to face rich.

 

“Jake, i had no idea you felt like this” rich said, scooting closer to jake. “I wanted to talk to you about it, but i guess i just never found the right time.” jake said. “I think we both need to work on talking to each other about our feelings” rich joked. It was silent for a moment before jake leaned over to rich. “Then let’s agree to do that. Promise me that if i ever make you feel ignored, you tell me” jake said. “Promise, and you promise me if you ever need to talk to me when you feel sad, you can.” 

 

Suddenly jake closed the distance between the two of them. It was quick and passionate. Rich could feel the spark they both had originally start to return. He felt the connection he thought they had lost come back. Rich leaned in passionately and let his happiness guide him in his heart back to jake. They slowly pulled apart and jake gave rich the biggest smile rich had ever seen.

 

“I promise”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there you go! next chapter is going to be a little different from the other chapters, but it will be all nice and fluffy so look forward to it!


	9. chapter nine: Chemistry!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the squip and christine do chemistry. it goes as well as you think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! i thought i could give you a bit of a break from the seriousness and sadness from the last two chapters. here is short little fluff chapter! next chapter we are diving straight back into the main story!
> 
> this chapter may also be the start of a little sub series of small one shots based off this fic. i will probably upload this along with other small one shots onto another separate work. the purpose of this is to expand on the universe and the squips interactions with other characters because i don't want the character interactions to feel unimportant in the story since i don't have room for some of these interactions in the main story. so please let me know what you think of this chapter and if you want to see more one shots like this! i'm hoping to get the next chapter out later tonight so we can jump back into the plot, but for now, enjoy the fluff!

“So, have you done anything like this before?” christine asked the squip, he pencil quickly scribbling down the rest of the chemical formula before heading over to start the experiment. “We never did this at my old school, but it can’t be that hard” the squip said as he examined the formula. Hes dealt with a lot of things like this in the past, he was sure he wouldn’t have a problem aceing this assignment. 

 

“You have a lot of confidence, that’s good. Now, put these on!” christine said happily as she shoved some goggles in his direction. The squip liked having a smart girl like christine as his chemistry partner. He was almost stuck with being madeleines partner. It would have been fine if madeline didn’t almost set him on fire. So christine was a good new partner.

 

Christine carefully put the first chemical into the test tube, then slowly into the beaker. “Now you want to be careful, if this goes wrong we could accidently destroy the classroom and my gpa can’t handle a failure like that” christine warned. The squip laughed as he looked over the formula. As christine went to go was out her test tube, the squip decided to help out and speed up the process. Christine told him to let her handle the first part, but he would like to help her out. He grabbed the next chemical,  C12H24O12  and was about to pour it in. suddenly christine’s head jerked around and her face went white. “Stephen don-” but it was too late. The squip had already dumped the chemical in as christine rushed over to stop him. The next the she and the squip knew, they were both covered in a strange lime green liquid. The were quickly rushed over to the little shower area in the corner of the class and were doused with water to avoid the chemicals doing anything bad to them. They had to stay after class to clean up.

 

“You misread the formula, you were supposed to use  C12H24O13 ” christine said, not meeting his eyes. She was trying to dry off her hair and clean off the table at the same time. The squip felt bad for letting her down and wanted to do something to make her happy. “Maybe….we can try again?” the squip said awkwardly. Christine let out a small laugh. “You’re joking. Mrs. Cullen never lets us retake this assignment. God, i hope my parents don’t freak” she said. The squip was about to speak again when the teacher entered the room, looking proud. “Ms. Canigula, Mr. Morris, i am very pleased with you” the teacher said with a gleaming smile. Both christine and the squip stared at her with a shared puzzled expression. “Why? I thought we failed the experiment..” christine said confused.  “Oh you did” the teacher started, “but we had to take the creation elsewhere so you kids could be safe, but we found out what you made wasn’t strange at all!” their teacher laughed and the two kids were starting to feel terrified. 

 

“Mrs. Cullen, i don’t really understand” the squip said. “You kids didn’t make the intended formula, but you made something better!” the teacher cheered. Suddenly she brought back out their failed experiment from earlier and handed it to christine. “Drink it” she said. 

 

“WHAT?!” both christine and the squip shouted in shock. “Drink it” the teacher said again simply. Slowly, christine looked back at the squip, then took a sip of the experiment. Suddenly her eyes widened and she put down the glass. “No way! This tastes exactly like-” she started, but was cut off again by the teacher. “Exactly! You two somehow managed to make mountain dew simply from the chemicals we had in the classroom!” the teacher said proudly. “You two have done something i wasn’t sure could be done, and for that, you pass the assignment.” “really!” christine said happily. “Yes, now don’t make me regret it. And don’t try using different chemicals in my classroom again!” she said and exited the room. 

  
“Well, i guess everything did turn out okay” christine smiled. “Thanks stephen, i know you didn’t intend for this to happen, but maybe it was for the best.” christine left the room quietly and the squip stayed behind to clean up the rest of the classroom.  _ God, no wonder mountain dew works so well for squips, it’s entirely chemical! _ The squip joked to himself as he finished cleaning the room with a new happy feeling rushing through him. He felt proud.


	10. chapter ten: auditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its audition season! michael knows that jeremy is going to do great at these auditions. michael also knows stephen is hiding something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long! we are jumping right back into the main story! i'm excited for you guys to find out what happens next, so if you ever have any questions at all, feel free to ask me on my tumblr (yesiamthesquip). enjoy the chapter!

today was the big day, and jeremy couldn’t be more nervous. He and christine had been practicing for months, but he still doesn’t know if he’s ready to audition.

 

“Jeremy, if there is anyone who has wasted more of his free time practicing than you I would be surprised” the squip said as they made their way to the front auditorium. “You know these things way better than anyone here. Well, maybe besides christine but you are sure to do well.” jeremy felt better after some reassurance from the squip as he took his seat next to christine. The squip quickly rushed over to a very nervous jenna and took a seat next to her. Jeremy has been seeing big improvement from the squip since he showed up last month. Things have seemed to get a little better around here. Jenna has been much more like her old self (which jeremy isn’t sure if that’s the best thing), and rich and jake have gone back to being practically inseparable. The squip didn’t tell jeremy much of anything about that night, but all he knows is that rich and jake are very together and the squip and jenna are very not. Jeremy was still very proud of how the squip has been changing. He hasn’t heard much sass come from him in a negative form and he hasn’t gotten in any fights. Maybe things with the squip will be alright after all.

 

“Are you worried about them too?” christine asked as she gestured over to the squip and jenna. “I’ve seen them, almost whenever we aren’t using the practice space in the drama room, they are. Dustin says they’re really good” christine spoke nervously. Jeremy hadn’t really noticed it, but thinking back he did remember the squip and jenna staying after school a lot the past couple weeks. Maybe they were practicing? “Don’t worry christine, you know you’re like, the most talented one here. You have no reason to be scared.” jeremy said, and christine gave him a warm smile. It’s nice that he and christine were able to remain close friends after they split up. Jeremy was very accepting of the fact that christine didn’t like him back, and he was happy christine still wanted to hang out. 

 

“Numbers 19 and 20!” mr reyes called as he opened the doors to the auditorium. “That’s us!” christine said as she shot out of her seat and began to practically drag jeremy into the auditorium. 

 

************

 

Being the head stage manager, michael felt honored when mr reyes wanted him to sit in on everyone’s auditions and help him evaluate everyone. The first couple of people were pretty boring. They were good, but didn’t have much going on. They all just seemed like normal kids who didn’t stand out as any of the characters. Brooke and chloe did a surprisingly good performance. He was surprised to see chloe actually caring about the audition, but then again her favorite movie was high school musical. Jake and rich were also surprising. He wasn’t expecting them to mix up the dance routine, but it was definitely funny to see jake pick rich up above his head at the end of the song. Now in comes jeremy and christine.

 

Michael thought it was cute how nervous they looked. Christine and jeremy had worked harder than anyone around, they were going to get leading roles, michael had no doubt. Their audition was very good too. They hit all the notes and moves perfectly and by the end of it michael was afraid to take his eyes off them. Of course, it was jeremy that michael couldn’t stop watching. Jeremy’s always such a nervous wreck out in the hallways of school, but on stage it’s like he’s a different person. He’s so much more filled with life and energy, michael just couldn’t stop looking at him and his dopey little smile while they performed. 

 

As they left, michael gave jeremy and christine a wink and a goofy smile and saw both of them relax a little more. Michael sat through several others tiredly until he he saw the next two people. 

 

“Numbers 37 and 38, state your names” my reyes said, the same blank expression he gave all the kids auditioning. “Uh..jenna rolan” “stephen morris” the two of them stood there in the middle of the stage nervously. Jenna looked way more nervous than stephen, but he still looked very anxious. Michael felt a little bad for them, for so for jenna. Jenna was his friend and he wanted her to do well. “Very well, you may begin!” mr reyes said. Michael noticed jenna whisper something to stephen, then stephen whisper something to jenna. It was typical behavior for most of the people who came out to audition, and michael felt weird for taking this one so personally. He was examining them, well, he was more just examining _ him _ . Stephen gave jenna a almost unreadable look, then they began. 

 

Michael was in pure shock. They were both incredible. Michael was surprised he had never heard jenna sing before, but she was amazing. And stephen was amazing as well. They had so much life and passion in them while they performed, but it was different from how jeremy and christine had performed. Jeremy and christine performed like professionals, people who were passionate because they knew what they were doing and how much they loved it. Stephen and jenna performed like new kids, people who were feeling the passion of performing on stage for the first time. They finished their audition and quietly walked out. Before leaving michael caught a glance at them. He was still in shock from seeing them perform, but he saw them both give him kind smiles. 

 

The rest of the auditions faded into the back of michaels mind. After words, he and mr reyes shared a few comments to each other before michael was allowed to leave. He hated to admit it, but stephen was good. He made his way out of the auditorium to be greeted by jeremy and stephen. They were the only people waiting out there. 

 

“You waited for me?” michael asked as jeremy ran up to him. “Yeah of course we would! You ready to go home and finally beat that boss in apocalypse of the damned!’ jeremy cheered. God, michael could stare at jeremy’s happy face for an eternity and never get tired of seeing it. Michael did turn away though, and noticed stephen giving him a look, his eyes darting back and forth between the two boys. “Oh is ah….is stephen joining us?” michael asked, and jeremy turned back to face the other boy. It seemed like jeremy and stephen had a whole conversation in seconds by just looking at each other. Michael remembered when he and jeremy used to do that, maybe they just aren’t on that same train of thought anymore. 

 

“Maybe we could just drop him off back at my place” jeremy said, and stephen didn’t seem to mind. Michael felt relief, then felt guilty for feeling relieved. Why did he care if stephen would be joining them? Stephen hasn’t done anything bad yet. Besides wear jeremy’s jacket. Or play video games to close to jeremy. Or spend so much time with jeremy that he starts forgetting that he was supposed to hang out with michael.  _ This needs to stop.These thoughts are getting out of hand _ michael thought.

 

The ride to drop stephen off felt long and awkward. He and jeremy were talking like normal, but michael couldn’t keep his eyes off the mirror that let him see into the backseat. Stephen sat in the back relaxed, watching the road ahead of them. Michael became so fixated on watching stephen that he was barely looking at the road. Stephen didn’t notice him staring tho, he just kept looking ahead. Michael really needed to let this go. Stephen hadn’t done anything to him, yet he felt so angry whenever he was around. Maybe it would be best for him to talk to jeremy about this, but like most things these days, michael thought it best to keep it to himself. 

 

They dropped stephen off and he quietly exited the car. “See you around” he said, and they waved him goodbye. Before michael could drive away, his thoughts were interrupted by stephens voice. “Michael?” he said, causing michaels head to snap in his direction. “Distracted driving isn’t safe.” was all he said before he turned quickly and headed inside. “What was that about?” jeremy joked, he was to oblivious to notice how michael’s blood ran cold and his face went pale. Stephen noticed him staring at him. Did stephen know that michael was watching him this whole time? Did stephen notice michael watching him at the auditions, or when they’re in class, or when he was playing video games with jeremy? Maybe stephen had just been keeping his mouth shut. But it was becoming obvious that he knew something and wasn’t saying anything.  _ This was probably just petty feelings _ michael thought.  _ You need to just let this go _ . 

 

Michael did not feel like letting go just yet. He was going to press a little further. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooooo whats going to happen next?! hopefully chapter 11 will be out soon, but i am returning to the beach for a few days, so writing might take a little while longer so just stay tuned!


	11. Chapter eleven: interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The results of the play are in and christine wants to have a talk with the squip. He takes her words too close to heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cried writing this entire chapter in hopes that you will cry too. This chapter is much longer than the other ones and i put a lot of work into it so i hope you enjoy! If you have anything you would like to say at all PLEASE send me a messgae on tumblr (@yesiamthesquip) my inbox is always open! Anyways break out the tissues and enjoy!

The squip felt like shit. He hadn’t slept in almost three days, hardly touched any food, and actually tried to avoid the people around him. He was actively not doing what he intended to only be doing, all because he felt like crap. He knew exactly when it started. It started after that talk he had with christine two days ago

**********2 days earlier*******

The squip and jeremy raced each other down the hallway, trying to beat each other to the auditorium to see the cast list that was supposed to be put up. They zoomed down the hallway, tripping over fallen papers and bumping into every person who was trying to leave the school. By the time they reached the auditorium they were out of breath and leaning against the wall.

“I so beat you” jeremy teased, his voice hoarse from running so much. “Incorrect, i got here much quicker than you did” the squip replied.

They argued for a while, not even noticing christine until she spoke up. “If you two are done, it's obvious i beat you both here” she smiled. “How long have you been standing there?” Jeremy asked. “Too long! I have been using so much restraint and refusing to go in there so i could wait for you! Now let's go!” She cheered as she dragged the boys inside the auditorium.

“Hey look! Our stars have arrived!” Rich cheered when the three of them walked in. Christine blushed and jeremy’s face went pale. “Good job you too, im guessing you must have gotten the big parts” the squip said, patting them both on the back. The rest of their group looked at them then laughed among themselves. “You guys should really check the cast list” brooke said giving a snarky grin. Confused, the trio made their way to the front, where the cast list was taped onto the front of the apron.

**HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL CAST LIST**

**TROY………….Stephen Morris**  
**GABRIEL (gabriella).........Jeremy Heere**  
**SHARPAY………..Christine Canigula**  
**RYAN…………….Jake Dillinger**  
**TAYLOR………...Brooke Lohst**  
**CHAD………...Rich Goranski**  
**MARTHA………..Jenna Rolan**  
**ZEKE…………..Dustin Kropp**  
**KELSIE………..Chloe Valentine**

The trio stood in utter shock and amazement, unable to say a word. “IM SHARPAY!” Christine suddenly cheered, jumping up and down. “This is totally a big break for me! I never get to play the mean girl so this will be such good experience! I wonder if this will top being juliet!” She rambled. Jeremy stood still, looking at the cast list with a pale face. “I'm…….playing a girl?” He said.

“Not quite!” Mr reyes voice suddenly boomed as he stepped out on stage, followed closely by michael. “In all my years of teaching i have never seen a production where the leads were both male or both female, so i thought it the perfect idea that we be the first to do it!” Mr reyes said proudly. “If you’re not willing though, chloe has volunteered to take your place” jeremy turned to see chloe staring him down. “Uh...no way! Im totally down for whatever role!” Jeremy cheered. Michael walked over and sat on the edge of the apron, letting his legs fall loose and hang over the edge. “You should honestly be thanking me jer, mr reyes wanted that part really bad and i had to talk him out of it” michael said, and jeremy tackled him in a big hug. “Thanks man” jeremy said. Michael was glad jeremy wasn’t facing him or else he would have seen how red michaels face went. Michael slowly turned to face the squip. “Uh….mr reyes thought you were really good for the part” michael said quietly. The squip had felt like he had completely zoned out. He and jenna had watched the movie together in order to prepare, so he knew troy was the lead. But the squip? The squip had been helping jeremy when he had his play last year, but jeremy wasn't the big lead. Now the squip had to figure out how to do that on his own.

“Thank you michael” the squip said kindly, and michael turned away. The squips face darkened a little as michael ignored him in favor of returning to his usual conversation with jeremy. The squip was working so hard to get michael on his good side, he even let michael cheat off his test the other day! Still, every time it seemed like they were close to something michael would push him away.

Soon drama club came to an end and people were starting to head out. Squip and jeremy were about to leave when a sweet voice pass through the air. “Stephen!” Christine said from the stage. “Wait here for a second! We gotta talk” she said as she cocked her head to the side and gave them a wide smile. The squip was about to make an excuse when jeremy put his hand on the others shoulder. “I’ll tell my dad to wait outside for you” he said kindly, then bolted out of the auditorium.

“Soooooo” christine said as the squip made his way to the stage and took a seat on the edge of the apron next to her. “Jenna told me you both went out on a date” she leaned in and studied the squips face for a reaction. “Yes….and?” The squip said awkwardly, wanting to get up and bolt it toward the doors. “So tell me about it!” Christine shouted, “jenna didn’t really tell me much and i'm curious! Are you a thing now?”

The squip looked away, not sure how to answer the question. What was he supposed to say? _Oh yeah, me and jenna went out and then we kissed and i cried and promised never to talk about it?_ The squip wasn’t in much of a mood to bring up this kind of stuff. “No...we aren’t a thing.” The squip said. “The date went okay, but i guess i wasn’t-i mean we weren't-i mean i guess what i mean is” the squip trailed off, looking extremely uncomfortable. “Listen stephen i'm sorry, i just wanted to know, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want too” christine said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “N-no it’s fine. It’s just….jenna and I kissed, then i kinda panicked because i didn’t really want to kiss her, then things got really weird and….i guess i just don’t really know how i am supposed to feel about these kinds of thing you know?” The squip said, finally meeting christine’s eyes.

“Yeah, i think i get how you feel” christine said softly. “I really wasn’t sure about a lot of things around the same time last year. I had no idea who i was, i was scared because i felt like i was alone, that no one else understood how i felt and i was the only one who didn’t know who they were” christine started. “Sometimes i was okay with that. But on the night of the play last year, jeremy, well he…..he told me about this thing. He told me it would help me be better and understand who i was. And i didn’t want to do it, but i guess i ended up doing it anyway” the squip winced at christine’s words. She was talking about him. What he made jeremy do to her. Telling her that he could fix all her insecurities and being a horrible person to her. The squip was afraid to even speak, so christine kept going.

“When i took it, everything felt...right. I felt like i knew who i was for once, and that i could do anything” christine perked up, but then her face changed and did a complete 180. “But after it was gone, i fully realized how horrible it truly was” the words hit the squip like a truck. “I could still hear its voice every now and then, telling me how useless i would be without it, how i was never going to be who i wanted without it. It was evil and sick and it made me hate everything” she said with a dark tone. The air in the room shifted and the squip felt unable to leave his spot on the stage. “I hated that thing more than anything else, thinking it could control me and tell me how i was going to live my life” the squip could hardly bare to hear any more of it. He really hurt christine. The squip in christine's head was just as bad as he was to jeremy. Telling her how worthless she was without him, making her hate herself, the squip felt the pit in his stomach grow as he prayed for it to stop. “But now it's gone” christine began saying again, “that thing is out of my life for good and i have finally been able to figure things out for myself. I have the power to be who i want to be, and i think i have figured out who i am at the moment, and i’m still learning who i am every single day.” Christine said with a light smile. “I can finally be happy with myself again and not have to worry about anyone trying to control me. I can be myself and figure things out at my own pace. I know that i got through it, and i know you can too stephen. You just need to take time to figure out your own feelings for yourself, and you’ll be okay.” She smiled. She suddenly noticed the look of terror on the squips face. “I'm sorry stephen! I must sound really crazy right now. I don’t know if jeremy told you much about what went down last year bu-” christine was cut off by the squip giving her a bone crushing hug. “Thank you christine” was all the squip could manage to say.

He said his goodbyes to christine and made his way out to jeremy and his father in the car. He wanted to relax, but christine's words still stung. He kept trying to push aside all those thoughts he had, about what he did to everyone. The squip just hopes he can move past today and feel better tomorrow

That didn’t happen

********back to the present********  
  
Jeremy was awoken in the night by a the sound of his door creaking open. He rubbed his eyes and turned to look at the clock. 3:12 AM. He slowly, very slowly got out of bed to see what had happened. He noticed a figure sitting by his window. Jeremy almost jumped and screamed before he noticed it was just the squip. He was sitting by the window, watching as the rain lightly tapped the window, his face barely made visible by the soft moonlight. _Wait, what was he doing in jeremy’s room right now?_

“Hey squip, what are you doing” jeremy yawned, his voice still groggy as he wiped the rest of the sleep from his eyes. “O-oh! Jeremy i-i didn’t mean to wake you, i'm sorry” the squip said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Dude, you have said sorry to me so much since you got here. If i had a nickle for every time you’ve apologized, i’d have enough money to buy another squip” jeremy joked, but his laughter fell on dead air when he noticed the squip had tears in his eyes.

Jeremy quickly rushed over to his side and sat down next to him. “Squip are you...are you crying?” Jeremy was puzzled. The squip slowly turned his head to face jeremy and gave him the saddest smile jeremy had ever seen. “I’m still getting used to crying. Sometimes it feels nice, but right now it just hurts” the squip admitted. Jeremy didn’t really know what to do. Was this really the same squip that had tormented him last year? Of all the things jeremy would think the squip would do, crying was the last one.

“What's wrong man?” Jeremy asked. There was a long silence until the squip quietly mumbled. 

“I’ve ruined your life, haven’t I?” 

“W-what?! What are you talking about?!” Jeremy said shocked. “Don’t lie to me jeremy! I’ve seen what i have done already. I had a talk with christine the other day remember? She told me very clearly how she felt about me and what i did to her” the squip said, choking back his tears. “Oh my god you didn’t tell her did you?” Jeremy asked, worry deep in his tone. The squip gave a pitiful laugh. “I don’t think i have the heart to tell her. I can’t tell anyone. I’m to guilty. I hate feeling this” he said, and jeremy looked more confused than ever. “What are you talking about? You? Guilty? I never thought i would ever hear that i my life!” Jeremy said dumbfounded. The squip gripped jeremy's shoulders and pulled them closer together, locking jeremy’s stormy gray eyes with the squips sad blue ones.

“You think i don’t feel guilty? I feel guilty every single day! I felt it when i had that conversation with christine the other day. I feel it when i see jenna afraid to join in on the conversation. I feel it when i see how chloe is afraid to touch you, didn’t think i noticed that? Well i did cause it’s my fault she feels that way towards you” he spat, tears beginning to fall quicker. “Squip plea-” jeremy tried but the squip just kept going. “I feel guilty when i see michael avoid me when i’m around you guys. I feel guilty when i see jake struggle to run or even walk cause his legs still aren’t okay after what i did to them. I feel guilty every time i have to look at rich, covered in scars and burn marks from when i caused him to make the worst mistake of his life. I feel guilty every time i look at you and what i did to you” the squip cried, pulling up jeremy’s sleeve to reveal the electrocution scars the squip left him. “I feel guilty every time i see you guys! I keep trying to make things right but you know and i know that i never will! Nothing i do will ever change how much i ruined your life and the life of your friends! I ruined everything jeremy” the last part came out almost below a whisper, as the squip put his head down, shaking as he tried to hold in the tears.

Suddenly, jeremy wrapped his arms around the squip tightly. The squips breath caught in his throat as he looked up to face jeremy. “What are you doing?” He asked faintly. “Squip, what you did was completely horrible, but that's not you anymore” jeremy started, “everything that you have done for us since you got here has been a blessing. You have helped us out more than you think. I know what you did eas shitty, but you came back just to make things right. You have helped us a lot since you got here and i don’t think we are better off without you right now” jeremy said quietly.

The squip was quiet for so long, before he quietly spoke up again. “W-why? Why are you so nice to me? After everything i’ve done, you are just sitting here, hugging me?” He said. Jeremy squeezed him tighter and rubbed circles on his back. “Well, i know when i'm upset, a hug usually helps me. You seem like you could really be needing a hug right now. So i’m here. And i’m always going to be here” jeremy said softly.

Those words instantly cut through the squip as he pushed his face into jeremy’s chest and began sobbing his heart out. Jeremy ran his fingers through the squips hair and tried to calm him down. After a long time, the squip’s tears had stopped and they just sat there on the floor huddled up together, watching the rain fall under the moon.

“How long have you gone without sleep? You look exhausted” jeremy said as he noticed the heavy bags under the squips puffy eyes. “A few dayssss” the squip slurred as he lay there, still wrapped in jeremy’s arms. “Ok, let's get you back to bed before you actually pass out on top of me” jeremy said as he slowly got up, pulling the squip up with him. Jeremy slowly took the squip to the guest room. The squip didn’t want to leave jeremy, he wanted to continue watching the rain with him. But he was way too tired to argue, so when jeremy lead him to the guest room he just quietly got into bed.

“Goodnight slugger” jeremy said as he was walking out the door. “Thats what im supposed to call you” the squip said, sleep laced deep within his voice. Jeremy let out a small laugh. “Ok, goodnight stephen”

The squip liked being called that a lot better as he slowly drifted into sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Projecting onto my chatacters? Neverrrrr
> 
> Tune in next time for the pinkberry arc!


	12. chapter twelve: operation lohst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> play rehearsal and chloe, brooke's two favorite things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter took so long! i promise i will try to do better with updating! anyway as a reminder you can always send me anything you want to say or ask to my tumblr (yesiamthesquip) inbox is always open! enjoy the chapter!

“ROLE TIME PEOPLE” michael shouted from the stage, clipboard in hand. Everyone in the musical sat in the auditorium seats as michael called their names out. Practice has been going on for about a week, yet already the team has made serious progress. They had gotten through singing some of the bigger numbers, and even started choreographing the final number. The squip has really been enjoying practice, he likes spending time with the group. He can really see them enjoying themselves and having fun, the squip wonders if they had always been like that?

 

The team had been going through lines for about an hour before mr reyes let them out on a ten minute break. Squip sat on the edge of the stage reviewing his script before he felt a figure sit next to him. 

 

The squip turned to see jeremy taking a seat next to him and giving him a warm smile. “Hey stephen, you looking over your lines?” he said kindly. The squip could feel the awkwardness hanging in the air between them. Neither of them have really mentioned what happened in jeremy’s room the other night, and the squip guesses jeremy doesn’t want to. “Uh, yeah. How are you coming along with your lines?” the squip said. “Yeah, it’s a little awkward. This character is such a brainiac, i think i’m much more suited for a jock” jeremy said proudly, but the the squip gave him a look and jeremy burst out laughing. “I think you may want to rethink your statement” the squip joked. “Ok ok i admit i’m not the most athletic person. I came over here just to ask if you were okay with any of the scenes” jeremy questioned as he flipped through the pages of his script. “Uh, yeah why would i have a problem?” the squip questioned, when jeremy then flipped to a page and pointed to one of the stage directions. 

 

_ Troy and Gabriella kiss _

 

“.....oh” was all the squip said. “I didn’t realize high schools allowed this kind of thing” the squip answered lightheartedly. “So you are okay with this? Cause if not we can always talk to mr reyes” jeremy said kindly. “Don’t worry jeremy, it’s just for acting, it has no meaning behind it” the squip reassured. 

 

Almost as if on queue, michael approached from behind the two boys. “Whats going on over here?” he said jokingly, taking a seat next to jeremy. Michael was starting to be a little more open to the squip than normal, which made the squip glad. But he could instantly see michael’s face change when he scanned the page and noticed where jeremy’s hand fell, still pointing at the stage direction. “Oh yeah….almost forgot that was part of the show heh heh” michael said jokingly, but the squip could tell he was suddenly very uncomfortable. “Michael are you okay?” the squip asked, and michaels face went from being very pale to very red. “Um yeah! Just uh…..five minutes left you guys” he said, and quickly took off in the other direction. “I should go check up on him” jeremy said, worry thick in his voice. Jeremy got up and walked off, leaving the squip alone. 

 

The squip took a second to survey the room. Rich and jake were goofing around in the back, christine was practicing lines with dustin and jenna, and chloe was reading the script with brooke. Well, she was supposed to be reading her script with brooke, but brooke was obviously not paying much attention to her script. As chloe’s eyes scanned her page, brooke’s eyes were only focused on chloe. It was obvious to almost everyone but chloe how much brooke liked her. The squip has been here for almost more than two months and neither of them had made any move. Maybe it was time for the squip to get involved?

 

“Hey brooke!” the squip called from where he was sitting. Brooke jumped in her seat and turned to focus in on the squip. Brooke made her way over to him and leaned over the stage. “Whats up stephen?” she asked. 

 

“You like chloe, don’t you?” the squip said, cutting straight to the point. Brookes face instantly went as red as michaels hoodie. “H-how i mean, what i mean, no wayy” she said awkwardly. The squip laughed a little. “It’s okay, i’m not going to tell her” brooke seemed relieved, “but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t tell her” . 

 

“Stephen i can’t just tell her, that’s-” brooke started but was cut off. “Why not? Maybe she likes you back” the squip teased, making brooke’s face go an even deeper shade of red. “I just-i just don’t know how okay! It’s not easy to tell someone how you feel” she pouted, and the squip began to think

 

What was a good way to bring these two together? Brooke seemed to be fine with never telling chloe, but the squip just didn’t agree with that. How could he get the two of them alone together to talk about it. Suddenly, the perfect plan popped into his head.

 

“Tell you what brooke” squip said, reeling her attention back to him. “How about the three of us go out somewhere this friday. Just...friends” the squip said, and brooke gave him an uneasy look. “Something tells me this isn’t all you’re setting it up to be” she said as she observed his face. “I promise, you, me, and chloe. We can just hang out and who knows? Maybe we will see if anything happens” the squip said, and brooke blushed again, punching him on the shoulder. “Not funny stephen!” she said sheepishly, and the squip laughed. “Come on, it will be fuuuuun” he teased. After a long pause, brooke sighed. “Fine, we'll hang out this friday. But ONLY as friends, got it!” brooke said and the squip nodded. 

 

“BREAKS OVER!” came michaels beaming voice from the back of the stage again. Brooke immediately ran back over to chloe. Just the three of them on friday night, only as friends….

 

The squip needed to start preparing to put his plan into action.


	13. chapter thirteen: this is basically gonna become a dating sim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this was just going to be a night out with friends, but the squip wants to play matchmaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! sorry i have been gone for so long, i have been really busy and had serious writers block but im back now! remeber if you have anything you want to say at all make sure you follow my tumblr (@yesiamthesquip) enjoy!

“Are you sure i can’t come with you?” jeremy pouted as the squip adjusted his jacket (which used to be jeremy’s, but the squip decided he looked better in it).  “Sorry jer, i’ve got big plans tonight” the squip smiled devilishly as he fumbled around in his bag and pulled out two little bluetooth ear pieces. “Jake lent these to me” the squip said as jeremy stared curiously. “Why do you need a bluetooth?” jeremy asked, to which the squip laughed. “This isn’t just a fun little night out jeremy, tonight i have a job. I’m a matchmaker” he said as he put one of the ear pieces in his ear. 

 

“You’re absolutely insane, you know that?” jeremy said, but he couldn’t help but smile. It was sweet what the squip was doing. Jeremy couldn’t help but notice all the little things he had been doing as well. And it felt nice to have someone else around the house to play video games with when michael was busy.  _ Maybe i should invite michael over, _ jeremy thought. He hadn’t really been spending as much time with michael as he used too, he’s been occupied practicing his lines and hanging out with the squip. 

 

The squip was about to head out the door when jeremy stopped him. The squip glanced back at jeremy, and jeremy couldn’t help but wonder why he was so caught up staring at the squips deep blue eyes as the setting sun illuminated them. 

 

“Yeah jeremy?” the squip asked, drawing jeremy’s attention back out. “Oh! Ah..good luck matchmaker!” jeremy joked, giving the squip finger guns and winking. The squip laughed and jeremy couldn’t help but laughing along, it was contagious. “Maybe one day i can play matchmaker for you” the squip joked as he turned to see chloe pull up on the curb with brooke in the passenger seat. The squip ran out and the closed the door behind him, with jeremy standing still, smiling at the door

 

“Yeah, maybe you can”

 

***********

 

The three teens pulled up in front of the boardwalk, chloe looking around excitedly. “I have been sooooo looking forward to coming back here! Its especially great after dark!” chloe said. 

 

It was a pretty festive boardwalk, with bright lights and a little amusement park like set up. The moon easily shed light on the quiet waters below them as they quickly walked along. Brooke seemed a little off, so the squip nudged her. 

 

“You good?” he asked, to which brooke smiled. “Don’t worry about me!” she said. Chloe quickly grabbed her arm, instantly making her blush as she was dragged away to one of the little games they had set up on the boardwalk. The squip laughed and followed. 

 

After a while, chloe finally managed to win the stuffed lion toy from the game, which she quickly gave to brooke. “I think it likes you” she said, to which brooke hid her face behind the stuffed toy so chloe couldn’t tell how much she was pining. The squip thought now would be a good time to put his plan into action. 

 

Chloe had begun to walk away again when the squip pulled brooke over. “Put this in” he said, handing her the bluetooth. “Why would i need this?” she asked confused. “Cause i’m going to guide you through a date with chloe!” he said excitedly. Brooke quickly lost all the color from her face. “You said we weren’t going to do anything like this!” she shouted. “Cmon brooke! This is your chance! I am here to help you and be the best wingman ever! You gotta trust me!” he said. After a beat of silence, brooke reluctantly grabbed the bluetooth. “Fine. i’m doing this only cause we’re friends but i swear if something bad happens this is all on you” she threatened. “Don’t worry” the squip said.

 

They finally caught up to chloe, who was trying to win another game. “Hey you too finally done gossiping?” she joked. “Yeah! And i was actually going to go grab us some drinks so i’ll be right back!” the squip quickly said. Before brooke had a chance to stop him he was running off into the other direction and switching on his bluetooth. 

 

“You ready to have the best date of your life brooke?”

 

“Don’t mess this up for me” 

  
  
  
  
  



	14. Chapter fourteen: Brooke and Chloe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brooke and Chloe finally talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo guess whos back its ya boi! finally finished this chapter, its super long and super sweet and full of happy girls so buckle up! if you have any comments or questions remember you can always ask me on my tumblr @yesiamthesquip. enjoy!

Once the squip was a far enough distance away he turned all his attention to brooke. “Where are you two now?” he asked through the bluetooth.

 

“I’m not sure, i think she’s leading me to the edge of the dock” brooke said. “Are you holding her hand?” the squip asked again and he could almost feel brooke blushing. “What no i can’t do that!” she squealed. “Brooke, take her hand, it will be fine” the squip reassured. A couple of seconds later and he hears brooke sigh. “Ok, i guess she’s fine with this” she says awkwardly, causing a laugh from the squip. 

 

“Who are you talking too?” the squip hears chloe ask brooke. “Uh! Play it off! Tell her you were mumbling about how cute her jacket looks on her!” the squip said.

 

“I was just saying your jackets cute!” brooke said, purposefully ignoring the part where she mentions how she likes it  _ on _ chloe, but the squip decides to move on. 

 

“So this is it!” he heard chloe say, “this is the edge of the boardwalk, pretty cool huh? You can really see pretty far out due to all the boat lights!” the squip listens as chloe and brooke have small banter before trying to but in again. 

 

“Try to change the subject to something more about her, she loves talking about herself” the squip said. “Thats rude!” brooke muttered into the bluetooth. “Just do it!” he replied.

 

“So, this years going by pretty fast for you huh?” brooke asked awkwardly. “Yeah, no shit” chloe said, “but, this year has definitely been better than last year.”  the squip winced, but said nothing. “What do you mean?” brooke asked. “Well, last year was just really wild you know? With the whole ‘squib’ thing, and jake’s house burning down, and you-” chloe cuts herself off. “Brooke, now might not be a good time to ask more questions” the squip said. 

 

“Thanks stephen, but i think i can take this from here” brooke responded. Before the squip could say anymore, brooke had shut off her bluetooth. The squip quickly started to search for the two girls and hoped nothing goes wrong.

  
  


*********

 

“-jake’s house burning down and you-” brooke is quickly drawn by chloe’s quick cut off as she turns away from brooke, removing her hand which had been laced with brook’s for a while now.  _ What was chloe going to say? Did i do something wrong? _ Brooke’s head flooded with questions as she inched closer to chloe. “Brooke, now might not be a good time to ask more questions” she heard stephen say through her bluetooth, but she knew chloe better than him. She knew what she had to do. “Thanks stephen, but i think i can take this from here” she said, quickly shutting off the bluetooth. She turned her attention back to chloe, who was staring out at the water in front of them. “What do you mean chlo? Did i do something?” she asked, her face full of worry. Chloe immediately looked guilty as she stepped further away from brooke. “No no! You did nothing wrong! I was just rambling, let’s move on” chloe said, but brooke could feel the unease in her voice. 

 

“Chloe really, tell me what’s wrong” brooke said, pushing aside her own nerves and placing her hand on chloe’s cheek, moving it down so their eyes meet. 

 

“Brooke it’s just…..it’s not you it’s…..jesus christ okay” chloe muttered to herself as she pulled herself away from brooke again and leaned against the railing of the dock. 

 

“Last year was….it was rough” chloe admitted. “I did a lot of shitty things to a lot of people brooke. I completely ignored people’s feelings and i acted selfishly and i totally regret how i acted and i’ve just been trying so hard this year to make it better so maybe everyone will forget how shitty i was to them but i know that it’s not that easy.” brooke listened closely to chloe as she refused to make eye contact with her. “Chloe, if this is about jeremy i told you i forgive you…”

 

“But i know you don’t”

 

“What?” brooke asked cautiously as she stepped closer to chloe. “I know how much you cared about him brooke! You even told me yourself you left the party in tears over what _ I _ did to you! I was stupid and i was jealous and i, i hurt you brooke” chloe said sadly, finally letting her eyes meet brooke’s. “I hurt you brooke, and if there is one thing i regret more than anything it’s hurting you.” 

 

Brooke wanted to reassure her, tell her it’s okay, but at the moment she was at a loss for words. Chloe was right. She was a shit friend and really hurt her. Even though she said she forgave her, brooke can’t help but tear up everytime she thinks about that night, when chloe tried to ruin the one good relationship she thought she could have. It broke brooke’s heart to see that her best friend was trying to sleep with her boyfriend. But she’s seen chloe’s regret. Chloe knows what she did and she’s doing everything she can for brooke. Brooke was still mad, but deep down, she forgave chloe the day after it happened. 

 

“Chlo” brooke said, lacing her fingers together with chloe’s, “what you did to me was horrible and you completely broke my heart. But i know you, and i know you are trying to fix things, and that’s what matters” brooke’s voice was sweet and chloe quickly melted into the shorter girls arms.  

 

They hugged for what felt like a while before chloe pulled away once more. “Brooke you know what happened with jeremy wasn’t supposed to be an attack on you” she said, making brooke confused. “I just….i got so jealous you know!” chloe said, causing brooke to remember the night of the play again, when she and chloe admitted their jealousy of each other causing them to fall apart. “It’s just that i got so caught up with my jealousy and i couldn’t understand what it was about jeremy that made you want to be with him more than me so you know i just needed to find out what it was about him that made you crazy for him over me” chloe seemed to be speaking without thinking, and each word left brooke speechless. Chloe quickly realised what she said and soon her entire face had lost its color. 

 

“You tried to hook up with jeremy to see why i chose him over….you?” brooke questioned, shocked. Chloe nodded awkwardly. “I-i’m sorry brooke. I should probably just go. I did have some fun tonight” she smiled weakly and began to walk off, but brooke caught her arm, spinning chloe around to face her. 

 

“Wha-” chloe was about to say before brooke got up on her tippy toes and pressed her lips against hers. Chloe was in shock for a moment, but quickly began kissing back. Brooke reluctantly pulled away after a few moments. “If you really liked me you could have said something” brooke joked, but her face was just about as red as chloes. Chloe laughed as brooke threw her arms around chloes neck and pulled her back for another kiss. It felt perfect, the two of them kissing on the dock surrounded by faint boat lights and the echos of people farther off on the boardwalk. They wished they could stay like this forever, but they were soon interrupted by loud footsteps rushing towards them. 

 

“BROOKEWHATHAPPENEDYOUDISCONNECTEDANDIWASWORRIEDISEVERYTHINGOKAY” stephen said as he finally got up close to them, panting and out of breath as if he had just run a marathon. It took him a moment to realize what was going on and his eyes widened. 

 

“Were you two just….” 

 

“We were until someone interrupted us” chloe said sarcastically and stephen blushed. “Well…..i’m happy for you!” stephen said, smiling happily while still sounding super awkward. 

 

“Weren’t you going to get us drinks?” brooke questioned and stephen froze up again. “Oh yeah…..all the vending machines were broken” he said awkwardly. “How about we go out for ice cream instead then, my treat” chloe said happily and the other two agreed. 

 

The three walked back to chloe’s car prepared to enjoy the rest of their night out, chloe’s hand never leaving brookes.


	15. Chapter fifteen: michaels (arc) makes an entrance!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everyone was happy. everyone except michael....
> 
> time for the squip to help him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW HIATUS IS OVER PEOPLE YA BOI IS BACK WITH A NEW CHAPTER!!!! we are heading into the big climax of the story. things seem to be going good not but next chapter is pure angst soooooo......if anyone has any comments or questions or anything at all remember my tumblr is @yesiamthesquip. enjoy the chapter!!

Monday felt like a completely different feeling to the squip today. He looked around at the people sitting around him at the lunch table. Chloe and brooke were happy, hands laced together and deep in conversation, as were rich and jake. Jeremy and christine were happily looking through their scripts. Jenna was rambling on happily about her weekend to the squip. He just felt…...happy. Everyone seemed so much happier than when they started the school year. The squip feels like he’s been able to help everyone be okay again.

 

Almost everyone.

 

Although everyone else in their group seemed content, the squip noticed that michael had not stopped glaring at him since he got here. What was it that made michael hate him so much? He knows jeremy never told michael who he really was, and the squip was sure he wasn’t a mind reader, so he ruled out the possibility of michael knowing the truth. So then what was it? The squip had done nothing to try and agitate the other boy, so what happened? 

 

Whatever it was, the squip planned on finding out. After School, the squip cornered michael on the way to practice.

 

“Hey man what's your de-”

 

“I know you like jeremy”

 

The statement caught michael completely off guard, but the squip didn’t see why it would have. From the time the squip spent in jeremy’s head, it wasn’t hard to see the obvious signs. While he had jeremy on optic nerve blocking, that only stopped jeremy from seeing him, not the squip. The squip saw michael everywhere jeremy was. He followed behind him like a lost puppy, trying anything to get jeremy to notice him. 

 

After the squip had been deactivated, michael grew even closer to jeremy, which the squip didn’t think was possible. Michael giving jeremy lovestruck eyes and dopey glances, the squip didn’t know what was sadder: michael pining or jeremy being that oblivious. They had become so inseparable nonetheless. The squip realized maybe his being there was probably getting in the way of michaels friendship he had rebuilt.

 

Michael looked away from the squip and glanced at the ground. “So what if i do?” he said with a sigh, not denying it. “Is that why you won’t talk to me? Because i’m not going to take him from you” the squip said, trying his best to show michael he is on his side. Michael became a lot more defensive. “I never said anything about that! Just….don’t mention this to anyone” he said quietly as he pushed his way past the squip. 

 

“I think i can help you” the squip shouted down the hall towards a anxious michael, who now stopped in his tracks and turned back around. “What do you mean?” he said curiously.

 

“Jakes halloween party this friday” the squip said. “We can get jeremy alone, you can just…..talk to him about it” this earned a scoff from michael. “Just talk to him about it? Wow i have never thought of that before” michael said sarcastically. “Look michael, you might not notice, but jeremy does like you, you just don’t notice. If you just….talk to him, i promise it will be okay” the squip smiled. Michael blushed deeply and he looked up at the squip. “You think he likes me?” he said with a small smile starting to make its way to his lips. “I know he does” the squip beamed. 

 

This seemed to cause a mood shift in michael. He seemed to have a smiled that stretched all the way across his face. “I don’t know if i can” he said anxiously, but nervously laughing. “I can help you with that” the squip said as he put a reassuring hand on michaels shoulder. 

 

“Thank you stephen, really” michael said, “i’ll see you in practice” he ran off towards the auditorium. The squip smiled as he watched him run with a bounce in his step. Maybe there is hope for them to be friends after all. All its going to take it a little time alone at jake’s party. The squip felt a hand on his. He turned to face a smiling jeremy, a slight pink tint on his cheeks. “Come on stephen! We gotta get to practice!” he said as he happily began to lead the squip to practice. The squip continued his little thoughts. Michael. Jeremy. Friday night. Jakes party.

 

Jakes halloween party, what could possibly go wrong?


	16. Chapter sixteen: the party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everything crashes and burns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> buckle up folks this chapter is super long i guess! its also super angsty and ~sad and controversial~ so i hope you like heartbreak! remember my tumblr is @yesiamthesquip and i love hearing what you think of my work so please please let me know anything you have to say whether it be questions or comments! anyway enjoy the heartbreak!

“Do you think this looks cool enough?” jeremy asked from across the room as he put the finishing touch on his zombie costume. “I think it looks fine jeremy” the squip said kindly. Jeremy walked over to the squip and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re looking pretty good too, if i may say” jeremy teased, making the squip feel a little embarrassed as he looked at himself in the mirror, wearing jeremy's costume from last year. “Feels a little on the nose doesn’t it?” the squip joked, making jeremy laugh. The squip noticed jeremy still had a nice light pink on his cheeks whenever he’s been around him for the last few weeks. “Come on let’s just get going or we’re gonna be late!” jeremy said. 

 

And off they went. 

 

*******

They arrived at jake's house a little after 9. Jeremy practically dragged the squip inside. It was a bit more people than the squip expected, but still less people than last year. 

 

“Stephen! Jeremy!” they heard a voice called, turning to see brooke running over, chloe following a bit behind. They were dressed up as elphaba and glinda from wicked. “Christine talked us into it” chloe joked, when christine appeared, almost as if summoned, dressed as the phantom of the opera. “I should have gotten you two to be in theater related costumes as well” she teased. “I think i’m fine for now” jeremy laughed. 

 

Slowly their whole group got together in one room, all trying to chat over all the other conversations in the room. Squip looked up from his conversation with rich to see michael walk in. the squip walked up to greet him.

 

“Hey man!” michael smiled. He wasn't wearing a costume. “Why not dress up?” the squip commented. “I didn’t know what to wear. I wanted something that jeremy might think is cool but i just couldn’t think tonight” he laughed nervously. “You ready to do this tonight?” the squip asked as he put a hand on michaels shoulder. Michael closed his eyes and gave a deep sigh, then looked up smiling. “I’m done waiting. I’m nervous as hell, but it’s now or never right?” he and the squip both smiled at eachother. It was nice to have michael smiling at him instead of scowling. 

 

An hour and many drinks later, the squip noticed michael hadn’t really made his move yet. He just sat on the couch and drank slowly. The squip avoided drinking anything, since he was a little apprehensive over what could happen if he did. That didn’t stop others from trying though. 

 

“Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyy stephennn” the squip turned to see a less than sober jeremy. The squip chuckled to himself, tipsy jeremy looked pretty funny. He had much deeper red cheeks and big dopey eyes as he swayed a little from side to side. “Hey jer” the squip said, “you having fun?” “i’m having the tiiiiiime of my lifeeee” he said, handing a cup to the squip. “Drink a little, it willll be fineeee” the slur in his voice coming in and out. The squip was about to refuse, but the look jeremy gave him made it almost impossible to say no. he drank a little then set the drink down, already starting to feel a change in the way he was thinking. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to do that, but what could happen? “You talked to michael at all? I think he wanted to say something to you” the squip said, trying to push jeremy towards michael, who just noticed them from across the room.

 

The song that was playing faded out and a new song came on, Whitney Houstons  _ I Wanna Dance With Somebody _ . Jeremy put down his drink on the small table near them and took the squips hands. “Come dance with meee” jeremy smiled as he led the squip closer to the middle of the room with other dancing teens. The squip felt a little nervous, but went along with it since jeremy seemed pretty intoxicated and didn't want him to fall in the middle of the dance floor. 

 

They danced along sweetly as the song continued, with jeremy inching closer to the squip with every step. “You okay jer? You seem a little off” the squip said nervously, trying to edge away from jeremy as he felt a pair of eyes on him coming from somewhere. “You know man” jeremy said, leaning his head on the squips shoulders. “At first i was a little weirded out by you being all like, here and human and stuff” he moved his hand to intertwine with the squips. “But then you like, were nice to everyone you know” he looked up to look in the squips blue eyes. “You’ve just changed sooooooo much and it’s greeeeeeaaaaaat man” he smiled. “You’ve become such an amazing guy and i just….” he trailed off and the squip realized what was going on. 

 

In all honesty the squip should have noticed the signs long ago, but it was a little too late to be cursing himself for being this oblivious. Before he could get a word in, he felt jeremy’s hand on his face as he leaned up and pressed his lips to the squips. 

 

For a moment it actually felt nice, but reality started to set in. this was not good. Jeremy had feelings for him that the squip knows he shouldn’t. Jeremy was drunk and the squip wasn’t completely sober either. Jeremy wrapped his arms around the squips neck and pushed further into the kiss, and the squip panicked. He knew this was wrong. This was very wrong. This needs to stop because its wrong anditneedstostopandthesquipneedstostopthisanditswrongitswrongitswrongitswrongit-

 

“Jeremy” the squip finally managed to push himself away from jeremy, who gave him confused and sad eyes. “This…...this isn’t right and you know it don’t you” the squip said quietly, and jeremy looked away. “I’m sorry jeremy”. Jeremy looked like he was about to say something, but before he could the squip felt something shove him. 

 

The squip looked up to see a very angry and teary eyed michael. “What the FUCK” michael shouted, venom thick in his voice. “Mikey i-” the squip tried but michael shoved him again “DON’T ‘MIKEY’ ME YOU ASSHOLE! YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!” by this point everyone had gathered around to see what was going on. 

 

“Michael you don’t understand it’s not what you think” the squip pleaded. “OH REALLY?” michael stepped closer to the squip, “cause it seems like i trusted the wrong person” he spat. “Michael please” “NO! I trusted you! You were the only person who knew about my feelings and you promised me you were gonna help me and then i turn around and you-” tears were flowing from his eyes as he looked over to jeremy, who looked confused and afraid. Michael quickly snapped his head back to the squip. “You took  _ everything  _ from me” he spat. “Michael please let me talk” the squip said as he put his hand on michaels shoulder. That's the last thing he remembers before seeing a fist, the table, then darkness.

 

******   
  


Michael stood shocked and frozen at the sight in front of him. Michael was overwhelmed with so many emotions and alcohol and he doesn’t even know where to focus. He tries to retrace what just happened. He came to the party. He prepared what he was going to say. He talked to stephen, the only person he told about his feelings for jeremy. He watched stephen kiss jeremy. He got mad. He got really mad. 

 

Now he was looking at stephen on the ground, blood coming from the spot where his head hit the table after colliding with michael’s fist. 

 

Everyone stood perfectly still, almost like a picture, for what felt like forever. Then, on the drop of a pen, everything blew into chaos. 

 

Jake ran to stephen’s side while rich and christine ran to grab the first aid kit and jenna called mr. Heere. Michael stood still anyway, only looking down at his fist, now with a little bit of blood on it. He only looked up when he realized jeremy was staring at him. At first michael couldn’t make out what the expression was, but slowly jeremy’s face turned to pure hatred. Jeremy grabbed michael by the collar and pulled him closer. “Why the  _ fuck _ did you do that michael! Do you have any idea what you’ve done you idiot!” jeremy screamed. Each word cut through michael like knives. He seemed to completely block out everything from his mind except the sound of jeremy yelling angrily. He didn’t even notice it when chloe pulled jeremy back and was keeping him away from michael. He snapped back to reality when he felt brooke’s hand on his. He can't read her face either. 

 

“I think you should go” was all she said. 

 

Michael looked up to see an entire room of people ready to attack him. Nothing killed him as much as the hateful look on jeremy’s face as michael turned away from the party and ran out the door.


	17. chapter seventeen: Michael in the basement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the squid has to have some serious talks with a couple of heart broken kids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who is back? I've got a week off before I become so busy with school I stop sleeping all together so maybe we can finish this thing off soon? I hope you catch me calling back to earlier times in the story and that I worked hard on this lol. kudos and comments are always wanted, you can reach me here or send me an ask at my Tumblr (@yesiamthsquip) ask box is always open and I love hearing your thoughts, criticism, and questions! enjoy the chapter!

When the Squip finally regained consciousness, everything was quiet. He slowly opened his eyes to see jeremy looking down at him. Squip realized he was lying with his head in jeremy’s lap. The squip quickly shot up, immediately regretting that as he felt a painful rush to his head. “You ok man?” a voice asked. Squip turned to see it was jake. “Everyone’s left now” he said, “jer’s dad will be here soon” his voice was very quiet and sweet. The squip placed a hand on his head, now feeling bandages from the injury on his head. He winced and quickly jeremys hands were protectively placed on his shoulders. “You alright stephan?” he asked sadly. Squip turned to look at jeremy, noticing his tear stained eyes. Memories of earlier that night flooded his head and he must have also begun to match jeremy’s sad expression because jeremy quickly turned away and avoided his eyes. 

They sat in silence until jeremy’s dad arrived. They sat in silence as mr heere lectured them on being safe and not drinking and fighting. They went inside in silence. Jeremy went to his room in silence. Squip watched in silence.

“ _ No, i am not going to let this turn into something horrible” _ the squip thought as he made his way into jeremy’s room. 

Jeremy sat up from where he was lying in his bed, eyes still trying to avoid the squips. The squip sat down on the edge of the bed and looked patiently at jeremy.  

 

“We need to talk about what happened”

“I know”

“You know what happened….it shouldn’t have…...i wouldn’t…..it’s not right it….”

“I know”

“It just…..after everything…...me….you…..it’s….”

“I know”

 

Words seemed to completely escape the squip in this situation, but jeremy still understood. They had a past. The squip can’t just get over what he did to jeremy. Jeremy could pretend like what he did to him didn’t bother him, but he would be lying. It just wouldn’t work. It can’t work. Everything they had worked to fix would fall apart and their friendship would be ruined. 

“You’re not mad at me are you?” the squip returned his gaze to a teary eyed jeremy. The squip smiled sadly and took jeremy’s hand. “Of course i’m not mad, its my fault for letting this get…..out of control. Im sorry jeremy. I didn’t mean for you to end up feeling like this, but you know it just….wouldn’t end well” the squips voice was hardly above a whisper. Jeremy nodded his head. “I’m still your friend you know. That’s not gonna change. I’m right here, i’m staying by your side” the squip nudged jeremy and he saw a small smile peak from the corner of his lips. Slowly,  jeremy wrapped his arms around the squip and pulled him into a hug, which the squip quickly reciprocated. 

They sat in silence for a while before jeremy pulled away, still teary eyed but at least he looked more at peace. “I’m sorry about michael” he said with a touch of anger as the squips eyes grew wide. MICHAEL!

The squip has hurt michael. He has no idea where michael is now. He could be in danger or hurt or completely abandoned. Everyone must hate him right now, but it’s not his fault. The squip hurt him. He needed to see michael, now.

The squip stayed by jeremy’s side until he fell asleep, then slowly left through the window.

 

**********

The walk to michaels house was freezing cold and nerve wracking. Once he made it, he immediately had a million doubts. His family was probably asleep.he could get arrested for breaking and entering. But the squip thought about what michael could be doing right now and threw all those feelings aside. 

Lucky for the squip, michaels front door was unlocked. Michael was probably rushing to get inside after he left, and didn’t notice he didn’t lock the door. Knowing michael liked to stay down in the basement (due to how much he and jeremy would be down there), he quietly crept down the stairs to the basement.

The squip timidly knocked on the door, hearing loud sniffles and footsteps. “I’m fine mom, go back to bed” he heard michael say from the other side. He sounded horrible. Michael opened the basement door and the squip could almost see his heart sink. 

Michael didn’t only sound awful. His hair was disheveled, his clothes seemed to sag off his shoulders, and his eyes were very red and puffy. Michael stumbled back into the room and lost his balance, falling to the floor. He put his hands over his face as the squip walked towards him. “I’m sorry, i didn’t mean it. I’m sorry, i didn’t mean it” michael repeated over and over again as the squip took a seat on the ground next to him. “Michael i-i’m not mad.” the squip said softly. Michael peaked up at his quickly from behind his hands. “Why not? I ruined everything?” his voice was extremely hoarse. 

“Michael this is all my fault, i should be apologizing” the squip began, and michael lowered his hands. “I had no idea jeremy was feeling like that. If i knew i would have stopped things earlier. I’m sorry i let things get that far, i should have been more focused on helping you”. Michael stared at him for a long time, seeming very confused and very upset. He slowly sighed and his breath hitched.

“Jeremy hates me” he said quietly

“No he doesn’t, he’s just mad right now. There’s a lot going on in his head” the squip tried to say, but michael wouldn’t listen. “You don’t understand. You have no idea what happened to us last year. Jake had a halloween party last year and-” michaels breath hitched again as tears pricked his eyes. Squip moved a little closer to michael. “You don’t need to say anything if you don’t want to” he said. Squip already knew what jeremy said to michael. “No!” michael quickly shouted then piped down quickly. “I-i need to say it. It’s s-something that i-i just- ugh!” michael grunted as he wiped tears from his eyes. The squip wanted nothing more than to help him, but michael put his hands up. 

“Last year at the halloween party, jeremy broke my heart” he said sadly. “He pushed me away and made me feel like the last 12 years of friendship meant nothing. He called me a loser and pushed me out of his way so he could go on to do better things. He pushed me aside and he  _ broke my heart. _ ” michael had tears rushing down his face. “After he left i-i fell apart. I stayed in the bathroom for god knows how long. I was lucky to leave before the fire started” this surprised the squip. He had always thought michael just went home afterwards, he had no idea he stayed behind. It hurt to hear him say that. “I stayed in that stupid fucking bathroom and cried my heart out. I freaked and i just sat in the corner and had a dumb panic attack because i realized jeremy didn’t even need me and it was all so STUPID and EVERYTHING we ever did just felt so WASTED and i was just a LOSER AND A NERD WHO NO ONE WANTED AROUND AND IT JUST SEEMED LIKE IT WAS A WASTE FOR ME TO BE ALONE AND MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE JUST LEFT OR MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE JUST ENDED MY LI-”

The squip put wrapped his arms protectively around michael, and he stopped talking. Michael must have not noticed that he had started to panic. “It’s okay. I’m here. Just breathe with me” the squip said quietly. They sat there until michael had calmed down. He lay there with his head resting against the squips shoulders. “Why?” he said so quietly the squip almost missed it. “Why what?” he questioned. “Why are you doing this? I hurt you and you’re the one helping me. Why are you being so nice to me?” 

“Well, someone once told me when someone else is upset, the best way to help them is to give them a hug. Show them they matter and that they are loved.” the squip didn’t notice he had started to cry as well. Michael laughed a little and pressed his head harder against the squip’s shoulders. Tears flowed from his face again as he spoke. “He can be ridiculous sometimes” he said quietly. “I-i love him so much, and i ruined everything” 

“No, we are going to fix this” the squip said and michael looked up. “How? I doubt he ever wants to speak to me again”. “We can fix this. I know jeremy cares about you and that he’s just mad right now. It may take some time, but we can build his trust back. It just takes some time and some care, okay?” the squip said and michael gave a weak smile. “I don’t fully understand yet but...i believe you. I’m willing to do whatever you’re thinking.” 

The squip stayed by his side for a very long time before he nodded off for a while. He woke up and noticed the sun was about to rise. He looked up and saw michael had went back to his own bed at some point in the night an was sleeping soundly. The squip went back to jeremy’s before they could wake up and realize he was gone, the whole time thinking of how he can fix this broken relationship.


	18. Chapter eighteen: starting from scratch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> squips needs to start building trust with Michael again, while also trying to get Michael and Jeremy to talk, all while dealing with the stress of opening night around the corner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh hi remember when I updated frequently? im sooooooo sorry for not updating in so long I honestly have had so much going on in school, and I've kind of been losing interest in writing about bmc. but I do still care for this story and I have planned all the way to the end and I do plan on finishing this story for y'all because I aint just gonna not finish a story! im also sorry if this chapter is short but its kinda meant to be more of a filler-ish chapter before the climax. anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter and if you have anything to say make sure to leave. comment!

The next Monday squip came into school with the rest of the group, Michael excluded. no one has brought up anything about the incident since it happened. Jeremy has been keeping his distance as well since he made things very awkward, but the squip has been reassuring him everything ok. Jeremy doesn't know squip went to talk to Michael, and honestly, squips been afraid to mention that name around Jeremy. 

squip honestly doesn't know quite what to do. everyone seems very anti-michael at the moment, and Michael is no where to be seen. 

"you ok man?" squip looked down to see Jakes worried expression. "yeah, fine. I just need to get to class" he said as he hurried away from the group. everything was too stressful right now. he just wanted to fix everything as soon as he could.

 

*****

Squip entered the cafeteria for lunch and looked around. he saw his friends at a table, Brooke waving him over and rich happily calling his name, but squip was more focused on the background. in the far corner of the cafeteria sat Michael, eating his lunch on the ground and looking like a lost kitten. suddenly, and idea popped into his head. 

he walked towards the table, rich holding out his hand for a high five. "hey Stephen how was cla-" rich started, but was cut off by the squip quickly walking past him and the others and he headed straight towards Michael. _"maybe if I should everyone else that im ok with Michael, they will be more forgiving towards him as well"_ squip thought as he made his way over. 

"this seat taken?" squip jokingly asked as he pointed to the ground next to Michael. Michael looked up and gave squip the saddest look he'd ever seen. "you're still pushing to be my friend huh?" his voice was hoarse, but he did have somewhat of a smile trying to force its way onto his face. it may have been a sad attempt at a smile, but it was enough of a cue to let squip know he could sit down. 

"they can't stay mad forever" squip said, and Michael looked down. "can we just-" he seemed to have a hard time communicating what he wanted to say. "can we just not talk about it? like...at all?" Michael finally sighed. squip took one look up and down at Michael, and gave him a small smile. "of course'

 

*****

"you've got to be kidding me" Jeremy grunted as he watched squip take a seat on the floor next to Michael. "guy gets punched in the face and he still forgives the asshat after getting zero apology." Jeremy seemed to be extremely bitter in his tone, because Christine gave him a hard elbow in the side. "hey!" he turned and found her giving him an almost unreadable expression. "you could be a little nicer you know, we don't even know if Michaels apologized to him or not". Jeremy seemed almost disgusted that Christine was taking Michaels side, but rich made a comment first. "Chris are you serious? I love Michael but he was way out of line at the party" rich said. "well im just saying we don't exactly know what Michael was going through that night! this wasn't just a spur of the moment thing you know!" Christine returned. Jeremy looked down at him feet, suddenly feeling a little guilty. _"theres no way I caused it...could I?"_ he thought to himself, but was pulled away from his thoughts. "I think christens right", Brooke started, "I mean, Michael isn't a violent person, im sure he feels really bad about it" she said. "I don't care if he feels bad! what he did is still unacceptable!" Jenna said bitterly. the back and fourth from everyone at the table went on for a while, Jeremy saying nothing.

"well whatever! you guys seem so sure Michael was just being a dick for dicks sake, I'm just going to go see myself!" Christine said as she sat up from the table. before anyone said another word, she had already bolted over to the two boys and took a seat with them. after a brief silence, Brooke stood up as well. "im gonna go with her". Brooke made her leave as Chloe stood up after her. "a girls gotta support her girlfriends choices". dustin followed shortly after, leaving just rich, Jake, Jenna, and Jeremy. "this is unbelievable" rich huffed as Jake patted him on the back. "lets just give it some space". Jeremy looked over at the now larger group sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, feeling sick to his stomach. he couldn't stand to even see Michael right now, so why did he feel so bad about being angry?

 

*****

squip could obviously tell Micheal was uncomfortable as more people started making their way over. squips plan had been going just how he thought. everyone seemed to be talking awkwardly, not wanting to bring anything sensitive up, but after a while they fell into more of a relaxed conversation. "Michael?" Christine said patiently, gaining everyones attention. "uh..yes?" he said quietly, not looking in her eyes. he was afraid for whatever she may say. "are you still gonna be stage manager? I mean.....opening night is this Friday and without you there we may die!" Michael seemed shocked to hear thats what she needed to say, but slowly brought himself to answer. "uh....of course I am" he gave an awkward laugh, "who's gonna help you guys out when everything goes to shit". everyone gave a small laugh, but the squip got thinking. Michael knows everything about this show, he even knows all the lines. the squip smiled to himself. his new plan is extremely crazy........but it may just work. 


	19. chapter nineteen: this will be the night! to remember!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> time to set squips plan into motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have any excuses. I've kind of lost a lot of passion for this story and the fandom in general but I did plan out the ending of the story and I will give it to you!!!! because I love you all!!!!!

the show was going great! they have gotten through act one without a hitch!

 

"how you guys feeling?" Christine said during intermission as everyone was preparing for act 2. everyone was going crazy preparing for the next number, and its at that point Stephen knew it was time to execute his plan. 

 

"jer?" Stephen said, his face suddenly looking paler and he slouches and rests his weight on the table next to them. "shit! are you ok Stephen?" Jeremy asked, which garnered the attention of everyone else in the room. 

 

"oh my god is he sick? please tell me you aren't sick!" Christine panicked. Jeremy rushed over to her side to calm her down. "don't worry Chris, im sure Stephen is feeling just fine and can finish the show", but as he was talking to her, Stephen took it upon himself to come crashing down to the floor.

 

he looked up at the crowd that had formed around his body, including an anxious mr reyes, a confused Michael, a Christine-on-the-vurge-of-passing-out, and Jeremy, who was helping him to his feet.

 

"he can't go on like that" said mr reyes sadly. everyone began panicking about what to do when Stephen pulled mr reyes towards him.

 

"isn't part of Michaels job to go on if needed?" Stephen asked. before mr reyes could even answer, Stephen continued. "he knows all the lines.....and the show has to go on......" that seemed to convince mr reyes. 

 

"Michael!" mr reyes shouted, causing Michael to spin around. "put on Stephens costume, you are filling in for him".

 

Michael shot a frantic glance at Stephen, who just winked and smiled. Michael realized what Stephen was doing. he simply nodded to mr reyes and went to change.

 

*******************

 

"I don't understand what im supposed to do here" Michael pleaded with Stephen off stage.

 

"this is your chance Michael! just......say your lines as if you were saying them to Jeremy. he will understand" Michael looked down and shook his head. "I don't even know what im supposed to say" he let out a bitter laugh. "thats why you let the lines speak for you. just.....put your own emotions behind it."

there was a loud "one minute" from mr reyes followed by a louder "THANK YOU ONE" from Christine. Michael let out a long sigh then looked up a Stephen. "well, I guess it really is now or never" they both let out a small laugh as Michael prepared for his debut. 

 

*****************

 

Stephen watched from the wings as act two unfolded. he could see during the start of something new reprise how they were acting. it was almost as if Michael was acting as himself, not a character. Jeremy could tell as well, and there was surely something deeper going on. either way, it made the audience go crazy. the rest of the show went smoothly and after bows, Stephen could see Michael and Jeremy talking backstage. 

 

"should we go see if they are ok?" Jenna said as she walked up. "no......I think they need to talk this out alone. Jeremy doesn't need my help with this one" Stephen said, a smile forming at the corners of his lips. 

 

Jenna and Stephen waited around for almost an hour after the show until Jeremy and Michael came out of the school and into the parking lot. 

 

"are you guys ok?" Stephen asked tensely. "yeah....I think we are going to be." Jeremy said with a smile. "we talked a lot about our feelings and shit and decided" Michael started, "that we do have....some sort of feelings for each other, but before any sort of relationship can happen-" "-we need to work out some other things" Jeremy finished. "there needs to be a lot more talking about well, everything, before we can really think about any of that".

 

".......wow" Stephen and Jenna said in unison. 

 

"but don't worry! we are at least on good terms now!" Michael said happily, wrapping his arm around Jeremy's shoulder.

 

they all decided to get in Michaels car and join the others for the afterparty, but Stephen pulled Jeremy aside.

 

"so really, is everything going to be alright?" he asked. Jeremy's face lit up a bit and a warm smile formed. "I think so, yeah". this made Stephen very happy. "also" Jeremy turned very serious. "I see you are feeling better?"

 

stephens face went pale. "i....um....uh" Jeremy laughed. "Michael told me you faked it" Jeremy said, making Stephen feel very embarrassed. "....thank you" Jeremy said. Stephen looked up, and Jeremy laughed and pushed him forward. "now lets get to that party before Christine flips!"

 

Stephen smiled. things will be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry if my style is off, really just trying to tie up the story. let me know what you think! conclusion is next!!!


	20. Chapter twenty: epilouge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for sticking with me in this story. after 20 chapters, over a year, and the worlds longest hiatus, this story is over. this epilogue may be short, but I want you all to know that while I may have lost some interest in this story after so long, this still was my favorite story to write. thank you for staying with me through it all. love you!!!

"CANNON BALL!!" screamed rich as he plunged into the water below him. it was now summer, and the gang decided to go on one last big trip to a nice cliff side lake and camp for the weekend together before heading off to college. 

 

"rich I will kick your ass!" screamed Jenna, who was now soaked from rich's massive wave. she, along with Christine and Jeremy, would be attending a local college. Jenna wants to study journalism, while Christine wants to study English, and Jeremy wants to study computer programing. of course, all of them are minoring in theatre. as for Chloe, she is staying at a community college before transferring to a college out west. she isn't sure what she wants to do yet, but she's smart and she will figure it out. Michael is taking a year to focus on his own work and figure out where he wants to go and do. Brooke is moving west to go to some nice college and become a veterinarian. Jake, rich, and Stephen are going up to New York, where Jake says they plan on being roommates. "better get used to living with this guy" rich would tease Stephen. but Stephen wouldn't mind. he was excited to start a whole new life, and study psychology. he wants to grow up and help people, so he's ready to get to work.

 

Jeremy was talking to Michael on the edge of the water when Stephen approached. "mind if I borrow him for a moment?" Stephen asked Michael. "just ask long as you don't take him away from me" Michael teased, to which Jeremy pushing him into the lake.  Michael hopped up and shook his hair like a dog. "seriously?" "give us a moment come on?" Jeremy pouted. Michael gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "only a minute, then im coming back" he laughed and swam off to attack Brooke and rich, who were having a war at the other end of the lake.

 

"im glad you and him finally got together, you guys are really good for each other." Stephen smiled. "yeah, it took a lot for us to get here, but i'm glad we finally did. I really love him you know?" Jeremy smiled. "yeah, I know you do"

 

they both sat in silence for a moment, letting the beautiful view and sounds around them sink in.

 

"so I know you didn't tell my boyfriend to leave just to say you think we are cute together" Jeremy teased, and Stephen took a moment to process his question before he speaks.

 

"how come you never told the others?" he asked. "tell them what?" Jeremy asked. "about......who I was before" Stephen answered sheepishly.

 

Jeremy took a long pause to think. Stephen became very nervous.

 

"well, I guess its because thats not really you anymore I guess" Jeremy said. "what do you mean?" Stephen said, a little shocked by the answer. "come on, do you really think you are the same person....or....thing you were before? you tormented me, now you are performing in musicals, and going to college, and rooming with Jake Dillinger and freakin' Rich Goranski! does that sound like the old you?" Jeremy said. "Jeremy, im being serious here" Stephen said. "and so am i. look around you. look at all the people you helped. you Tod me that first night that you were sent back here for 'rehabilitation'. well, I think you did your job. you rehabilitated. you made everyone happy. you helped us all in so many ways" Jeremy gave a sweet smile and clenched Stephens hand tight. "I really do thank you for what you did. no one needs to know about who you were because that doesn't matter. what matters is who you are now, and we all love who you are."

Stephen felt like crying. "thanks Jeremy. I really don't know what I'll do without you in college." he laughed and wiped his eyes. "I think you'll manage, and im always a call away"

just then a large splash came washing over them.

 

"I gave you enough time, now you must fight!" said Michael, who was carrying rich on his shoulders, armed with a large water gun. "oh, it is so on! Christine! get over here we are killing rich and Michael!" Jeremy shouted as he dove into the water. Stephen watched them go and sat out on the side. everyone was happy. he did do his job. he's glad he got this second chance, now he has the opportunity to live his own life, be his own person. everything would be alright.

 

everything would be alright

 

{project rehabilitation :: complete}

 

everyone was happy


End file.
